New Surveillance Cameras

Lansing Police previously installed five surveillance cameras on the north side but now the south side has five of its own as well.

There are five new reason you may be on camera.

These new surveillance units, which where hotly debated by the city council, cost $44,000 which was initially set aside for a second internal auditor in the city council.
 
But captain Ray Hall says the cameras are certainly worth the money.

He says "they get rid of those nuisance crimes likes open alcohol, people urinating in public, the fighting that takes place on street corners."

But some people aren't happy about cameras in their neighborhood.

One woman we spoke with today who did not want to appear on camera says the cameras are a waste of money as crime will simply move away from them.

But Hall doesn't see it that way.

He says "crime moves when I push a patrol car down the street also.

A patrol car is very visible so its a deterrent factor.

The more visibility you have in a community, the more visibility you have in a neighborhood, the lower the crime rate is going to be."

But still some argue that it is an invasion of privacy and they don't want them there.

Hall says the Lansing Police Department has taken every precaution to make sure that residents' homes are in what they call "privacy zones" and cannot be seen by the cameras.

"ya know, I dont want people looking in my home either so we're taking the proper steps to make sure privacy is safeguarded" says Hall.

The first camera which was installed in downtown Lansing in December resulted in twenty arrests in just two months.

Police tell us they will be releasing the numbers on arrests from the other five cameras on the northside next week.