MBTA installs 50 surveillance cameras at JFK/UMass Red Line stop to fight crime in area

By Todd Feathers, Globe Correspondent

The MBTA has finished installation of more than 50 new security cameras at JFK/UMass Station months ahead of schedule, following concern in the surrounding neighborhoods over a flurry of recent crimes.

The cameras, funded by a Department of Homeland Security grant, will capture action inside the station and in the surrounding parking lots, Transit Police Superintendent Joseph O’Connor said.

The project began in November, when community members asked the MBTA to increase security around the station, following a string of nearby robberies and a daytime sexual assault in one of the station’s parking lots.

“The installation of cameras to the station will be part of our multi-pronged approach to monitor situations in the surrounding neighborhoods,” O’Connor said.

The station is used by UMass Boston students, Boston College High School students and area residents.

The MBTA does not disclose the exact number and locations of security cameras, but O’Connor said prior to this addition there were more than 10 cameras in and around the station.

The cameras capture action in real time, but the footage is also stored for up to a month in case law enforcement officers require it for investigations.