Fighting Crime From Above?

Pamela Metaxas from The Republican newspaper reports:

Security cameras are set to be installed at two Chicopee Housing Authority (CHA) complexes as officials move to ensure tenants' safety and to monitor any suspicious activity.

11 cameras will be installed at the Cabot Manor Apartments, which consists of 26 buildings on Stonina Drive and Plante Circle, and five cameras will be installed at Canterbury Arms Apartments, 165 East Main St. – both federally aided projects.

"The company is now ordering their supplies and we believe they will be installing them by the end of July and it will take two to three weeks," she said. "I believe this will have a positive effect for the housing authority and will provide much-needed security and address any issues we have. The cameras will be day-night cameras and will give us wonderful pictures" for the authority and police if needed.

"This will give us additional coverage and security issues will be addressed. We want to make sure the developments remain safe for all tenants who live there," she said.

Blazic is hopeful other authority complexes will have security cameras installed in the future.

Meanwhile, Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette said 15 interior and exterior security cameras, along with a variety of security monitoring and alarm upgrades installed last year at the main library, have already proven their worth in minimizing vandalism and damage after hours.

The mayor said the city is continuing to work on installing camera surveillance at three downtown intersections, working through the city's Information Technology Department and Chicopee Electric Light.

"We are planning to install the cameras in the downtown triangle to cover the major intersections," Bissonnette said.

In preparation for the downtown camera installation, the municipal utility has placed high-pressure sodium lamps on 25-foot poles.

It is well known that some public housing units suffer from higher than normal crime rates.  Many housing authorities have claimed that the installing of surveillance cameras have assisted in decreasing crime, however, it's my opinion that these cameras merely displace crime to other locations.  I do believe cameras in the public housing context are a good idea, and they certainly can be used for investigation purposes as well as apprehensions and conviction of criminals.

If a public housing inhabitants are a certain percentage (i.e. 5-10%) of the total police department precinct's population, and the cameras are all installed and "go-live" around the same time, the CHA can eassily perform an effectiveness study.  The area outside of the public housing becomes the control area, and the public housing units become the experimental area.

The mayor also states that the city is installing street lighting for the cameras in the downtown area.  Mayor Bissonnette should be aware that while street lighting is important to capture better photographic images from the cameras, improving the city's street lighting can be even more effective than installing surveillance cameras. It is important to understand this, so no extra credence is given solely to the cameras if in fact the crime rates go down in the city's downtown area.

Mayor Bissonnette should modify his police department's records management systems to report back to his citizens just how effective each surveillance campaign has been.