Posted January 13, 200619 yr I was doing a google search for cameras in cincinnati and came across this article. http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2005/11/329338.shtml surveillance cameras in Cincinnati author: SCP report from a Surveillance Camera Player Cincinnati, Ohio Between 19 and 22 November 2005, Bill Brown of the Surveillance Camera Players (New York) was in Cincinnati, Ohio, thanks to the efforts of Kim, an art history professor at the University of Cincinnati. An "urban" campus, the University of Cincinnati is quite separate from (to the north of) the city's downtown area, which is only populated from 9 am to 5 pm during the work week, and is completely empty during the week-ends. :-o In between the two areas lies the "Over-The-Rhine" neighborhood, a small black ghetto that includes entire blocks of abandoned houses. No doubt students only come downtown to see Cincinnati Reds baseball or Cincinnati Bengals football games, which are played in water-front stadiums along the Ohio River. Otherwise, they stay away. Cincinnati is supposedly the seventh most-segregated city in the USA. It looks like it. :x homepage: http://www.notbored.org/cincinnati.html
June 28, 200618 yr From the Post, http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060628/NEWS01/606280339 Criminals simply avoid cameras, police in Cincinnati have found Scripps Howard News Service Not every city is sold on cameras as a crime-stopping approach. Cincinnati, one of the first municipalities in the nation to adopt the technology, now is decidedly disenchanted. The police department agreed. But neighborhood and community groups persisted. Using small city grants, several contracted with a private company, CityWatcher.com, to mount cameras in high-crime areas. Whether or not criminal activity was simply displaced, residents were pleased with their new peace and quiet. Last September, City Council's public safety committee endorsed a plan to vastly expand the program by adding about 117 cameras. But Council never took up the issue. Today, the police remain convinced that taxpayer money can be better spent elsewhere.
June 28, 200618 yr This is very interesting. I don't know if it's true or not, the story (at least the online version posted above) is pretty skimpy on facts. I heard that there was a presentation at the last CNBDU meeting and that there is (another) pilot project under way with the new, more expensive cameras somewhere in Cinci, but I don't know where. The last I heard (at the meeting back in February or March at Spinney Field for the folks from the neighborhoods that had applied for the cameras through the Clean and Safe grant program) the project was still going to happen, albeit with 40-50 cameras, instead of the original 117. These cameras were supposed to be much improved from the CityWatcher cameras and similar to the cameras in Chicago. Cranley gave an impassioned plea to those present to exert political pressure to get the funding passed when it came before City Council since this version would be funded entirely by the city instead of the CityWatchers proposal which was to have the city buy the cameras (with the last remnants of the Anthem fund) and the neighborhoods fund ongoing operations. Since then I haven't heard anything and just assumed that the City was moving at the glacial pace the city moves at. The death of this program, if true, would be a major disappointment. I don't think cameras are the be all and end all or anything but I do think they're a good tool to clean up hot spots where all else has failed.....
June 29, 200618 yr Cameras would only be effective if they were absolutely everywhere, otherwise I think it just moves the crime hotspots around a little bit and I don't suport cameras being everywhere; that's some 1984 type of stuff.
June 29, 200618 yr Seems like maybe there are some helpful uses - say, an alley that's a particular problem, that can't easily be patrolled. You're right, it can't be the entire solution - but I'd think there's a place for them. Now, whether it's good policy, that I don't feel as sure about...
June 29, 200618 yr Well, if your mugging got caught on tape, it would make it easier to catch the mugger. And if you were lying on the ground bleeding to death you might get spotted quicker than having to wait for a passerby.
June 29, 200618 yr ^No doubt. But there's complete security Singapore-style, and there's complete liberty Darfur-style, and somewhere between the two is a good balance of security and liberty. I just haven't figured out yet which side of the line these cameras fall on...
June 29, 200618 yr London, UK has CCTV cameras everywhere, and they don't seem to infringe on people. They sure help catch criminals though... this may be the middle ground you are looking for.
June 30, 200618 yr I always hear about Chicago's camera system. I wonder how Chicago's and Cincinnati's experiences with the cameras compare....
June 24, 200816 yr Cameras to watch for crime Cincinnati police getting eyes on 120 locations By Jane Prendergast • [email protected] • June 24, 2008 http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20080624/NEWS0108/806240313/
June 24, 200816 yr I always hear about Chicago's camera system. I wonder how Chicago's and Cincinnati's experiences with the cameras compare.... No where close.
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