29
Nov
2013
By Calvin at 17:15 GMT, 12 years ago
Six years ago the New Orleans Mayor proposed a city-wide CCTV system to control crime in the ‘Big Easy’. Of the 1,000 proposed cameras, only 250 have been installed and the majority of these are not operational. And the bill so far? - $6.6 million!
So instead the residents of the French District have put up their own cameras and have teamed up with the New Orleans Police Department to ensure that they get the evidence. Not only that, but they put the videos on You Tube!
Although a senior NOPD police officer is somewhat reserved about the cameras’ effectiveness, he does acknowledge their usefulness and says that violent crime is down 2% on the previous year (although he’s hesitant to make the connection). People interviewed suggest that there are limitations to the privately installed CCTV cameras due to the quality of some of the images recorded and the fact that some criminals know they could be on camera and take precautions. The report ends with a sobering message from a community worker who points out that poverty is the major driver of crime in the city (60% of the children live below the poverty line) and more needs to be done to tackle that problem first.
Interesting stuff and worth the watch (8 minutes long)
You Tube: Citizen surveillance: New Orleanians are installing cameras to help the police: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bg7iLFQphg&feature=youtube_gdata
