New Surveillance Camera on Eastern Market Metro Plaza
by Larry Janezich
Posted January 8, 2026
A new surveillance camera has been installed on Eastern Market Metro Plaza by the Capitol Hill Business Improvement District (BID). The device was funded by a grant from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety. The 360 degree camera is registered with MPD’s Camera Connect program which can provide real-time coverage to MPD’s Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC).
According to a statement by the Capitol Hill BID, “the camera covers high-traffic areas of the park and supports the city’s ongoing public safety efforts along busy commercial corridors, particularly during peak evening and overnight hours, by helping detect loitering and other potentially suspicious activity.”
The city established the Safe Commercial Corridors Grant Program in 2024 to provide funds to allow BIDs to upgrade security monitoring. Other BIDs across the city have received grants to improve security, including Adams Morgan, Anacostia, Capitol Riverfront, Golden Triangle, and DuPont Circle, Georgetown, Mount Vernon Triangle, and NoMA. Other than the Golden Triangle BID, the number of other BID’s which have used funds for surveillance cameras is uncertain.
The ACLU has expressed concerns about the Real-Time Crime Center’s ability to monitor activity across the city without public oversight.
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 
Loitering? GMAFB. Call this what it is – an intrusion on social liberties and a police state action
Isn’t loitering the purpose of a public park? What we’re all the benches included in the design for, if not to loiter?