The city of Charleston is adding eyes in the sky to their existing arsenal of crime-deterrence weapons.
The municipal security camera system will offer real-time surveillance, low-light recording and review capabilities, according to information presented at a May 2 meeting of the Charleston Neighborhood Watch organization.
Mayor Sedrick Smith Sr., who moderated the gathering, noted that the city has been awarded a federal Justice Assistance Grant for the purchase of the first 12 cameras and is optimistic about a pending Homeland Security grant application that would pay for 12 more.
Some cameras will feature sensors to detect the speed of passing vehicles and can snap photos of violators, including the car tag, and be used to identify the driver and issue a ticket, said Smith.
The mayor said it is hoped the cameras will cause some would-be criminals to think twice before committing crimes. At the very least, he noted, the visual aids should assist lawmen in identifying and apprehending law violators.
Ray Clolinger, president of Charleston Rotary Club, said Rotary has “certain donated funds that can be used for improvements and/or revitalization projects.” He noted that the club would be “agreeable to assist” with the project by entering into a contract with the city to provide funds for the purchase of 12 additional surveillance cameras, without the speed sensors, with certain stipulations.
Smith has said the non-speed sensor cameras cost about $800 each.
Clolinger said it would have to be confirmed that the city’s existing commercial property insurance policy will provide coverage for the cameras, adding, “because I expect them to be vandalized.”
Rotary also would insist on a “centralized monitoring station that would be staffed 24 hours” a day by personnel trained and certified in surveillance, Clolinger explained.
The mayor said monitoring details had not been worked out, noting that he planned to ask Tallahatchie County Sheriff Jimmy Fly whether an agreement could be reached to place a monitoring station in the dispatcher’s office of the county jail in Charleston.
Smith said City Hall does not have personnel for around-the-clock monitoring of the surveillance camera feed.
Rotary also would want “some input into developing the grid of where the cameras will be,” Clolinger noted.
Smith said he foresees no problems meeting Rotary’s requests, and, on Clolinger’s suggestion, the mayor said he would be negotiating for the camera supply company to throw in four more cameras at no additional charge, which would push the total number of cameras to 40.
“With 40 cameras in this town, we could cover most of this city,” said Clolinger.
Smith said he is convinced that a municipal camera network will be beneficial.
“The cameras are going to work wonders, I believe,” the mayor noted. “These cameras are on the job all the time, and with them we can identify people down to a T.”
The town of Sumner has utilized a network of mounted surveillance cameras for numerous years. Cameras ring the town's Court Square.
In other news, Smith said reflective street signs will be erected in areas to warn of an active “Neighborhood Crime Watch” program in the city.
Eventually, he said, a dedicated 311 telephone crime tip line will be implemented, too.
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Clolinger, whose wife, Dana, is executive director of the Charleston Arts and Revitalization Effort (CARE), which hosted the last few of the five Neighborhood Watch meetings held to date, said some criminals have gotten "pretty brazen."
"We just put a new roof on this [CARE] building, and it started leaking," he noted. "A repairman came out to look and found a bullet hole in the roof."
Clolinger also said someone recently tried to break into the CARE building.
"They pried open this window, and when they did, luckily, they knocked over an exhibit that we had there, and I think it scared them and they ran away," he added. Clolinger said had they gained entrance, they would have tripped sensors that are part of the building's security system, but he lamented the attempt in such an open and visible area of downtown.
"This is on the Court Square," he said. "It's pretty brazen."
Dana Clolinger said when leaving the CARE building after certain nighttime programs, she has observed a lot of foot traffic around the Square.
"There are so many people just walking and moving around the Square at night," she noted.
Smith shared that some of his own family have expressed concerns for his safety during nighttime trips to his City Hall office, located on the southeast corner of Court Square not a stone's throw from the county jail.
"I normally go to the office and do a little paperwork at night, and I was advised to stop going there and walking out late by myself," he added.
That said, Smith noted that the Neighborhood Watch concept is catching on and producing results.
"Neighborhood Watch definitely won't solve all of our problems, but it definitely makes people a lot braver than they once have been," he stated. "The Neighborhood Watch is working. People have gotten brave enough to call, brave enough to make a statement."
The next meeting of the Charleston Neighborhood Watch organization is scheduled for Thursday, June 13, at 6 p.m., in the Charleston Arts Center, aka CARE building.
