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Havana May Purchase Surveillance Cameras By Brenda Bowen 11/4/05 |
This story focuses on the benefits of strategically placed
surveillance cameras in high-traffic areas.
Police in Havana may soon be able to monitor the downtown area around the clock with the help of
surveillance cameras.
"It came about because of complaints from business owners," Police Chief Kevin Noble said Wednesday.
"The complaints are about teenagers loitering outside storefronts, using foul language, littering and damaging property by carving their initials into benches,” Noble said.
The issue was discussed Tuesday at a meeting of the City Council's public safety committee. Members asked Noble to contact two electronics companies and get more information about the feasibility and cost of
surveillance cameras.
Noble said city officials are considering installing two
video cameras, one at Main and Plum streets and another at Main and Orange streets. The cameras would record the activities in front of many businesses in the downtown.
“The
surveillance cameras might help police, who have only seven full-time officers to patrol the city 24 hours a day,” Noble said.
"We can't be everywhere at once," he said. "Any kind of picture can be an investigative tool."
Mayor Dale Roberts said he wants to find out more about what technology is available in the
surveillance cameras, and whether police could move them electronically to see a wider area.
He said he's open to looking at any proposal that would cut down on crime and thinks just the presence of the
surveillance cameras may put residents and business owners at ease.
"If nothing else it's a deterrent," he said.
Source: pjstar.com
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