Commuters at the JFK/UMass stop on the Red Line may soon notice an eye in the sky close by. MBTA officials are planning to place near the Sydney Street entrance a camera mounted on a platform, known as a “Sky Tower,” that stretches 30 feet into the air.

The “Sky Tower” has been successful in combating crime when placed in other locations, such as the Wollaston Red Line T station in Quincy and on Washington Street in the South End, transit police said.
The live camera records and relays footage back to MBTA Transit Police headquarters.

Lt. Bill Fleming of the MBTA Transit Police attended the monthly meeting of the Columbia Savin Hill Civic Association at the Little House on Monday night and told members that the tower camera will be set up at the request of state Rep. Marty Walsh.

Because the tower won’t fit in the back of the station, which sits under the Southeast Expressway, officials plan to place it in the construction site next door. They could not say when exactly the tower will be in place.

The tower was so successful in the South End that they’ve asked that it be brought back for further use, said Fleming.

Walsh said he was prompted to ask for the tower due to complaints of purse snatchings and stolen cell phones at the station that he said may have been brought on by the sun setting earlier in the evening. “I’ve been trying to get as many tools as possible to deal with some of the quality of life issues people have,” Walsh said. Police have also increased patrols in the area.

At the meeting, a member of the Police Department’s Neighborhood Watch Unit highlighted crime prevention tips.