Cameras could soon help cops monitor high crime areas

(2/15/06 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- First it was red light cameras at certain intersections. Now Houston police are looking to install other cameras to help them fight crime. It's a solution other cities have come up with and it's always met with controversy.

With all this talk of hiring more police officers and not enough money to do it, Houston's police chief has offered a new proposal. This plan includes placing surveillance cameras at crime hot spots such as malls, apartment complexes and those areas where prostitutes and drug dealers hang out.

The video would be fed directly into the police department. Chief Harold Hurtt says it's really no different that the red light cameras which will eventually be installed at 50 intersections. In fact, there's already a plan to install five of those surveillance cameras in downtown Houston along Main Street to track and monitor any criminal activity.

Chief Hurtt said, "Wherever you go in a city this size you're going to be on video camera or tape at least 12 times a day. If you just think about it, you go to a convenience store, you get gas, you go to the bank, you drive down the street in front of people's houses where motion sets off the cameras, you're already on camera. I know a lot of people are concerned about big brother. My response to that is, if you're not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about it?"

Chief Hurtt believes it would be cheaper to have the cameras than to hire enough police officers and have them at every street corner. He's even suggesting that those homeowners who have too many calls for service to their homes be forced to install the cameras as well.
(Copyright © 2006, KTRK-TV)

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