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Grant to fund security cameras in Hartsville
Feb 09, 2012 (The Messenger - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
HARTSVILLE, S.C. -- A $40,000 grant from The Byerly Foundation to the City of Hartsville will pay to put a computerized security camera system in downtown Hartsville, City Manager Natalie Zeigler said.
"This will put six cameras in the downtown area. And we're also putting two call boxes on the Coker College campus," Zeigler said.
The funding will also pay for laptop computers for police department patrol cars that will, among other things, enable officers to monitor the cameras from their cars, Zeigler said. "Of course, they won't be monitoring while they're driving, but they will be able to stop their car and connect to the system with their laptops," she said.
The cameras will be located at the intersection of Eighth Street and Carolina Avenue, Sixth Street and Carolina, Fifth Street and Carolina and Fourth Street and Carolina.
"It's not like it's a secret where they'll be. They will be very visible," Zeigler said.
Zeigler said city officials hope to be able to expand the security camera system to other areas of the city in the future.
The cameras will be monitored at the police department and probably at city hall, Zeigler said. Eventually, plans are to link them to Darlington County's Emergency 911 Communications Center so they can be monitored from there as well, she said.
A $500,000 Community Development Block Grant recently obtained by the city for improvements in the Oakdale community is also being used to put security cameras in that neighborhood. Zeigler said those cameras will also be tied into the same system.
City officials are in the process of talks with Progress Energy officials on placement of the cameras on utility poles the downtown area, Zeigler said. She added that if the two sides are unable to resolve that issue, the city has a backup plan to approach individual downtown building owners about placing the cameras on buildings.
In addition to the downtown cameras, the city is spending some of its own money to put security cameras in Byerly Park, according to Zeigler. "We're spending money to put cameras at Byerly Park inside the T.B. Thomas Sports Center and in the park itself," she said. That money, about $10,000, is money that was included in this year's city budget, she said.
Some of those cameras are already in place, she said.
City officials have not yet taken bids on the laptops, but Zeigler said most of the remaining equipment for the downtown system is already in hand. She said installation of the cameras should begin within about two weeks.
Police Chief James Hudson said the cameras will be a welcome addition and useful tool for police in keeping downtown safe. "They will give us more eyes in the downtown," Hudson said.
"If a crime occurs, we'll have the ability to go back and review the video. It will help us build better cases with better evidence and help in prosecuting cases. I think it will make people when they come downtown to shop or go to the movies or special events, it will help make them feel safer once the cameras are in place."
Byerly Foundation Executive Director Dick Puffer said the foundation's Board of Directors felt the addition of cameras to the downtown area would not only improve security in the area but would add to the public's sense of security in the downtown, particularly after a January 2011 incident involving a fire and alleged robbery at Jack Be Nimble Children's Clothing Boutique. In September, authorities charged the owner of the business with arson and insurance fraud in the incident.
"When the downtown disturbance happened, there was a perceptible feeling of unease among people in Hartsville, particularly in the downtown area," Puffer said.
"I think the city was thinking about it before then, and the board felt like it would be a good idea. The perception of security and safety in the downtown area is important, and I think the board felt like this could add to that perception. A couple of other cities around us were doing it, and we felt like it would be a good idea to add to the feeling of security. I think it's something the foundation would have done eventually anyway because a lot of other cities are doing it."
___ (c)2012 The Messenger (Hartsville, S.C.) Visit The Messenger (Hartsville,
S.C.) at www2.scnow.com/community/messenger/ Distributed by MCT Information
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