City Council Committee Tackles How To Get More Businesses To Install Exterior Security Cameras
By Steve Tawa
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- A Philadelphia City Council Committee has begun the process of figuring out how to get more businesses to install exterior security cameras, and buy into the Police Department's Safety Cam Program.
Options include tax abatements to offset the cost, and "mandatory camera installation for nuisance businesses."
SafeCam was developed to encourage business owners and residents to install street facing cameras and register them to help the police retrieve video, if a crime happened nearby.
They helped find the people responsible for the shooting death of Officer Moses Walker after he left the night shift in North Philadelphia's 22d District, the abduction of a woman in Germantown, and the killing of a doctor in her Center City home.
A grieving mother gave another reason to have them installed at businesses that serve alcohol. Karen Montgomery gave emotional testimony before Council about losing her 21-year old son, Shane, who disappeared in late 2014, after hanging out at a Manayunk bar.
"One thing that shocked and frustrated us was the lack of video surveillance along this bustling commercial corridor," she said.
There was a massive five-week search for Shane, whose death was ruled accidental, after his body was finally found in the Schuylkill River.
The City Commerce Department's Karen Fegley says they have a program to incentivize businesses to install exterior street facing cameras.:
"They have to register with the police's SafeCam, and then, we reimburse them for 50% of the cost of that system," Fegley says. "A single business is a $3000 max."
Councilman Curtis Jones also acknowledges he and his colleagues must clearly define what a nuisance establishment is, if they are mandated to install security cameras.
"I'm of the opinion nuisance is, as nuisance does," he said. "If you sell alcohol to minors... nuisance; if you sell loose cigarettes... nuisance; if people come to your establishment and they get robbed...nuisance!"
Police say private cameras do not stream live video to them, and investigators would only contact owners with a request to recover video, if a crime happened in that area.
