Camera
Gives Cops Extra Eye; New Video Camera Will
Help Monitor Downtown Square
Vandals,
bar brawlers and car thieves better think twice
before committing crimes in downtown
Stevens Point.
Perched
on a light pole next to the Farmer's Market,
a new pan, tilt and zoom
camera controlled by the Stevens Point police can take in a 360 degree view
of the town square and can look east down Main Street well past the ShopKo
parking lot.
“The
idea is not to have a Big Brother scenario,” said
Lt. Ron Carlson of the city's police department, “but
rather a crime prevention tool.”
The
camera was installed two weeks ago by Horgan
Sales
and Service, a Stevens Point company that
sells security and fire alarm systems, camera
surveillance
and access control. The
police department will begin using the camera
next
week, Carlson said, as it irons out a policy for its use.
By
spring, signs will be posted downtown advising
visitors of the video surveillance. “The signage is a key component,” Carlson said. “It's sort
of like the old adage, ‘locks help honest people stay honest.’
“We're not trying to catch people, we're trying to deter people,” Carlson
said, adding that its footage will increase the accuracy of police investigations. “With
eyewitness accounts, there's always some distortion. A camera never
lies.”
Closed-circuit
cameras have been in use by police departments
in the United States and England for decades.
Major cities like Boston and Chicago use hundreds
of cameras, and recently have moved toward
implementing technology that recognizes faces
and suspicious behavior. |
Lt.
Ron Carlson of the Stevens Point Police Department
accesses the surveillance camera located on
the square downtown. Computers in the department
and squad cars will be able to access the camera. (Photo
courtesy of Stevens Point Journal)
A
camera has been mounted on the pole, right,
so the
Stevens Point Police Department can monitor
actions in the downtown area from the dispatch
center. (Photo courtesy of Stevens Point
Journal) |
Police
dispatcher Melissa Schude said the camera will
allow her to help officers responding to an incident
more effectively. “If we got a call in about a fight in front of
a bar, we can give the officers better descriptions,” she
said, “because we're actually seeing it
instead of relying on third-party information.”
The town
square camera, the same type used by the Pentagon
in Washington, D.C., sends a wireless,
digital signal
to computers at Specialized Computer Systems
Inc. at the northwest corner of the square. Up to
six
users,
including the shift supervisor and 911 dispatchers,
can monitor the visuals via a Web browser. The camera
can be programmed to focus on 10 key spots every
minute. Presets will be used so that
at the
touch of a button, it will focus on key locations,
like in
front of taverns, for example.
The camera was proposed by the Association
of Downtown Businesses, which began discussing
different
ways
cameras could be used downtown about a year
and a half ago,
according to Main Street Manager Jami Gebert.
About six months ago, the ADB, Stevens Point
Police and
Horgan began to meet about its implementation. “We
care for our business owners and we want them to
keep their businesses downtown and feel safe,” Gebert
said.
Mike Horgan,
owner of Horgan Sales and Service, donated the cost
of installing
the camera and
sold it to
the police department and ADB, who
split the bill, at cost. “This was really meant
to be a demo to show what these cameras are capable
of,” Horgan said. “It
could open the door to put up others.”
Carlson
and Gebert said if the camera proves
successful, there is potential
for four to
six more to be positioned
in order to adequately cover the
entire downtown district.
“I'm all for it because of all the vandalism
I've had,” said
Debbie Kreb, owner of Heaven in a Handbasket,
1108 Main St. She said wind chimes and hanging
flower baskets
have been stolen from in front of her store,
and she has found vomit on her doorstep.
Christopher
Ahmuty, executive director of the American Civil
Liberties Union of Wisconsin,
is concerned because similar cameras
have been abused in other cities
across the country. “We're not against technology,” he
said. “We
have to make sure that it's being
used in a way that doesn't put technology over good
law enforcement.”
Ahmuty
said police officers have used cameras to look into
private property
and have zoomed in on
individuals
inappropriately. “Who will oversee this?” he asked. “There
needs to be some accountability in how the
camera is used.”
“It is in no way made for the purpose of watching
downtown,” Gebert
said. “It's not going to be a 24-hour
fun show.”
(By
Carlos
Gieseken, Stevens Point Journal -- Feb. 21, 2006)
Read more about
Horgan in the news |
