Phila. Councilman Thinks All Bars Should Have External Security Cams To Track Exiting Patrons
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Spurred by the death of college student Shane Montgomery, a Philadelphia city councilman is again trying to devise a plan that would either encourage or require city bars to install exterior surveillance cameras.
Councilman Curtis Jones' district includes the neighborhood of Manayunk, where Shane Montgomery died last fall after leaving a bar on Main Street. His body was located more than a month later, in the Schuylkill River.
The bar had no working cameras, and Jones thinks that's a shame.
"It would not have changed the outcome of Shane's death," Jones acknowledges, "but it would have hastened the discovery of the body (and) hastened the ability to have some closure."
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So, Jones wants all bars in Philadelphia to install cameras, although he has not yet drafted any legislation and he is uncertain whether to make it a requirement or simply propose a gentle nudge.
"Requirements might be a hard word. It might be an inducement, a tax credit. It could be a license requirement for someone to get a liquor license or transfer a license," he said.
Jones plans to introduce his plan –- whatever is in it –- as early as next week.
