New Orleans Inspector General Robert Cerasoli said he will launch an investigation into a contract for the city’s crime camera program that has come under plenty of scrutiny in recent weeks.

Robert Cerasoli

The decision comes just a day after city officials were grilled about the contract, how it ended up in the hands of a company that apparently didn’t have a state license and why there isn’t a maintenance contract in effect to keep the cameras functional.

That grilling came after a previous meeting during which council members wanted to know why so few of the cameras were actually operating. At that time about 85 of the 250 cameras were working. That total has jumped to 150 in recent weeks.

Councilwoman Stacy Head called for the investigation.

“The issue is going to be, if we are paying for this technology, are we using this technology to the fullest extent that we should?" she said.

Head pointed out that the city is paying a lot of money for an arsenal of crime cameras, but after sending some of her staff to check them out at one police district, she said she is worried they may not be effective.

"Some of the cameras appear to be operating in a way that makes it very difficult to see the images,” Head added, “We need a third party that can spend the time going to the districts to look at the images and to then, maybe go back to the DA and talk to the DA about whether or not she thinks they can be used in prosecutions."

Head and some fellow council members have also sent a letter to the Metropolitan Crime Commission, asking that group to do a quick study of its own.

Mayor Ray Nagin responded to the crime camera question Thursday.

 "The way it's being presented right now, it probably looks a little, a little funny, but you know, we have bid this thing out I think at least twice, and so it's been under a lot of scrutiny, and it was done pretty openly. So, you know, hopefully there's nothing underneath this, and I don't think there is based upon what I've seen."

Cerasoli disagreed with the assessment.

"It seems to be a problem that's symptomatic of the contracts themselves. The fact is that there's not a lot of transparency in the way these contracts are given out. A lot of people don't have access to the contractors themselves to ask them questions so, that's the real big problem."