Baltimore police will phase out blue-light cameras

BALTIMORE (AP) _ City police will phase out the early generation of blue-light cameras and replace them with more sophisticated closed-circuit units.

The portable cameras represent about 18 percent of Baltimore's crime cameras, according to Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III. Their technology requires considerable manpower, rendering them ineffective.

"There's a great deal more heavy lifting involved to make them effective," said the commissioner, calling the portable cameras an "albatross" during a budget hearing this week. "That's something we've learned during our experience with camera...