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First Security Cameras Installed In West Side Neighborhood

The first of more than 100 security cameras was installed in the Hilltop neighborhood on Tuesday in hopes of reducing violence, drugs and prostitution.
The first camera was placed near the corner Sullivant and Clarendon avenues, 10TV's Chuck Strickler reported.
The box on the utility pole actually holds two fixed and one 360-degree rotating camera. The live images are broadcasted back to a police substation, and to City Hall, 24 hours a day.
They will be monitored during peak hours and the video can be used as possible evidence for upcoming criminal cases, Strickler reported.
Mark Henderson, a letter carrier, had walked his mail route on Sullivant Avenue for five years.
He hoped the cameras along the road and at the three other intersections down the street would make a difference.
"Drugs, prostitution, I see it all," Henderson said. "I just try to keep walking. (A) couple times I've had to dive into bushes with guns going off."
"This is one of safety, not one of Big Brother," said Mayor Michael Coleman. "This is one of keeping violent crime in check. There shouldn't be a Big Brother issue because the houses will be masked and the cameras will be directed to public areas, and so this is just extra eyes on public areas, and keeping private areas confidential."
The high-definition cameras will be installed at three other intersections along Sullivant Avenue by the end of the week and will be fully operational by next week, Strickler reported.
Mount Vernon is the next neighborhood getting the cameras. All of them should be in by the end of the year.
The cameras cost $2.5 million, which was allocated from the capital fund.

http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2011…

8 comments

  • rh48hr
    13 years ago
    It's said our world has to do things such as this, but there is a reason criminals don't do things out in the open. Hopefully this will curtail some of their activities and make the neighborhood safer.
  • Dudester
    13 years ago
    Houston just had it's red light cameras turned off. City Council voted for them, they were installed, and a near revolt took place. An election ordered them turned off. The camera company filed suit against the city. The city turned them back on, and a near revolt caused them to be turned off again, for good.

    There are cameras in intersections, used in traffic control, but they aren't used for citation purposes.
  • canny
    13 years ago
    6 months from now the cameras will be expensive decorations. They'll put too many of them up to monitor and the cops won't be able to check them all so they won't check any.
  • vincemichaels
    13 years ago
    Ahh yes, 1984 lives on.
  • Clubber
    13 years ago
    Amen, vm!
  • samsung1
    13 years ago
    Sullivant Ave was where Rumor's strip club was located. It got closed down due to liquor and prostitution violations.
  • rl27
    13 years ago
    Wonder how long it will be until someone permanently damages the cameras.
  • georgmicrodong
    13 years ago
    Couple of weeks, max, before one gets shot out.
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