Video surveillance camera program clicking for Duval

 

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

 

A plan to install police video surveillance cameras on electric poles along lower Duval Street is moving into its second phase.

 

At a recent city commission budget workshop, Police Lt. Jim Benkoczy outlined an updated proposal that will include a $50,000 request for funding in the 2014-2015 fiscal year, which begins on Oct. 1. City officials are in the initial phases of finalizing and submitting budget proposals to city commissioners, who have the final say over which programs are ultimately approved. Last year, commissioners voted to allocate $75,000 to launch the surveillance program.

 

Lt. Benkoczy said police are currently in the process of obtaining quotes for surveillance cameras and accompanying software. While the exact number and locations for the cameras have not been finalized, Benkoczy said the program will target the parts of Duval Street that attract crowds at night.

 

“The initial part of the project will be on lower Duval Street and it will expand from there,” he said.

 

Police spokesperson Alyson Crean said police are working with Keys Energy Services to locate existing electric poles in that area where a camera could be installed. If Keys Energy cannot provide enough space, the police may approach local residents and businesses to ask permission to install cameras on existing signs or rooftops, she said.

 

‘There are a lot of logistics that have to be hammered out,” Crean said.

 

Key West Police Chief Donie Lee has been trying to start a video surveillance program for the past five years, considering it proactive planning to address community safety. However, funding proposals never made it to final budget negotiations until last year, when commissioners gave the program the $75,000 go-ahead.

 

“This has long been a priority with me,” he said in an emailed statement to Konk Life. “Not only do the cameras serve as a deterrent to crime, but they capture vital evidence. This system will help us better serve and protect the community.”

 

City Manager Bob Vitas is also a supporter of the program. The initial cameras will be tested along lower Duval Street, he said, then more cameras will be added in locations moving up Duval and into residential areas and marinas, if funding allows.

 

“To give a good example of why we want something like this … it’s in the wee hours of the morning when people bump into others and sometimes injure them and then they leave and there’s no evidence of who it was. It will give us the kind of evidence so that we can better police the city,” Vitas said.

 

“The more eyes out there for us the better,” added Benkoczy.

 

While many cities around the United States already use video surveillance cameras to assist law enforcement – and several Key West businesses have also installed cameras to prevent theft and vandalism – there are some concerns regarding the cameras’ effect on personal privacy. The American Civil Liberties Union lists four potential problems with closed-circuit television, including whether or not it is effective in law enforcement, possible abuse in discriminatory targeting and voyeurism by operators, the lack of limits or controls on camera use and a possible “chilling effect” on public life.

 

“Although the ACLU has no objection to cameras at specific, high-profile public places that are potential terrorist targets, such as the U.S. Capitol, the impulse to blanket our public spaces and streets with video surveillance is a bad idea,” according to a statement on the organization’s website.

 

City Commissioner Tony Yaniz is also conflicted on the issue.

 

“I’m torn about

. I understand the use from a law enforcement standpoint. But there are some privacy issues. We need to do a lot more vetting to make sure we don’t open that Pandora’s Box,” he said last week.

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