Roch is writing today that the Greensboro Police Department is asking for more cameras to be placed in and around Greensboro. While I understand and even agree with Roch's concerns I find it rather comical that the July 2013 Downtown Greensboro Riots made public a fact that a lot of us-- myself included-- already knew: The Greensboro Police Department was at that time unable to mantain, monitor and keep functioning the number of cameras they already had in place. Many of not most of Greensboro's cameras don't work because GPD has failed to keep them up.
As a matter of fact: all the videos from the 2013 riot were filmed not by City owned cameras but by privatly owned security cameras installed on privately owned buildings.
Perhaps a better and more cost effective solution would be for GPD to work out live camera monitoring agreements with the owners of these existing cameras much as the police do the trespass agreements signed with many businesses, apartment complexes and condominium complexes as was the case with Heritage House.
Oh wait, GPD didn't take advantage of the trespass agreement with Heritage House either. No wonder they couldn't get crime under control there.
How does a trespass agreement work? A trespass agreement allows the police access to the property and the right to arrest anyone who doesn't belong there without permission or prior knowledge of the owner, tenant(s) or manager of the property. Property owners and managers love the agreements because it means no more getting out of bed at 3 AM to go meet the police and sign papers. Tenants like trespass agreements because they make their homes and businesses safer.
But as long as GPD continues to fail to maintain and use the tools they have, why should we pay for new toys?
