By Judy Keen
USA TODAY
OTTUMWA, Iowa — As they serve loose-meat sandwiches at Canteen Lunch in the Alley, Debbie Quick and Dixie Buck agree that installing surveillance cameras downtown will help prevent crime and make people feel safer.
“Most businesses are going to appreciate it,” says Buck, 64. “If they get a window broken, they’ll find out who did it.”
Quick, 56, says cameras will help stop harassment of people at the downtown bus shelter. She’s not concerned about forfeiting privacy. “If I’m not doing anything wrong, I’ve got nothing to worry about,” she says.
Customer Brett Phippen, isn’t so sure. “I’m concerned we’ll end up with fewer police patrolling,” he says. “It might deter crime, but it might send it somewhere else that doesn’t have it.”
Phippen, 52, a teacher, does worry about an erosion of his privacy. “My privacy is worth something, but they’re going to say you don’t have any unless you’re in your own house,” he says.
Ottumwa, which has about 25,000 residents, is among dozens of smaller U.S. communities emulating big cities by turning to cameras to help monitor their downtowns or high-crime areas.
Police Chief Jim Clark got a $375,000 federal grant to put about 30 cameras downtown and near Quincy Place Mall. The funds also will be used to install computers in squad cars so officers can access the images and respond to trouble. The images also will be wirelessly transmitted to police headquarters and recorded for use as evidence.
Cameras cheaper than cops
The cameras, which won’t be used to catch red-light or speed violators, will be in place by June 1, Clark says. “To commit a crime, people have to think they can do it without getting caught. Well, cameras take that away,” he says.
Mayor Dale Uehling says no one has complained to him about the cameras, which the City Council approved unanimously. “This is just another tool to help us,” he says, and cameras are “a lot less expensive than hiring another police officer.”
Ottumwa isn’t a hotbed of crime; its two homicides in 2010 both were domestic violence cases. Even so, its 40 officers made 3,925 arrests last year and responded to 57,691 calls. The main problems downtown, Clark says, are vandalism and rowdy conduct by bar patrons. Illegal drugs also are an issue, he says.
Cindy Woodbury, executive director of Main Street Ottumwa, an economic development group, says the cameras will make anyone considering opening a business downtown more confident about safety. About 30% of downtown property, including some historic buildings dating to the early 1900s, is vacant.
“It’s part of stabilizing downtown,” Woodbury says. If more businesses open, she says, “it increases the likelihood that people will want to live downtown.”
Owen McKee is all for the cameras. He owns McKee Coins, a store that has been on Main Street for 30 years. About a month ago, he installed security cameras inside the store to catch shoplifters, and he plans to put more outside.
“It might serve as a deterrent -- we don’t try to hide them or anything,” he says. “You just have to assume that no matter what you do, you’re being watched, whether it be by God or man.”
McKee, 55, is among many property owners who have agreed to allow the city to install cameras on their buildings. Owners will pick up the modest cost of electricity to operate them.
A hedge against vandalism
Donna Greenley, owner of O’Town Books, also wants a camera outside her store. “I just think we need it,” she says. “There are a lot of empty buildings downtown, so it’s kind of a breeding ground for not-so-nice things and a lot of vandalism.”
Much of the area is quiet and “very scary” after dark, Greenley says. “People don’t want to put a business here if goofy people are around creating trouble.”
Jacqueline Thompson, 57, a dance instructor and part-time pastor, isn’t sure it’s possible to woo stores back downtown. She also wonders whether the cameras really will prevent crime and has some qualms about surveillance.
“People that want to steal ... will know where those cameras are, and they’ll avoid them,” she says. “Do I like cameras all around me? Welcome to the 21st century,” she says. “You can’t get away from it, unfortunately.”
Uehling says the city will track crime statistics and weigh the cameras’ effectiveness.
Clark is sure they’ll help. “Provided you’ve got the money, it’s a no-brainer to do.”
Copyright 2011 Gannett Company, Inc.