Street Cameras Are Likely to Stay

Some Groups Question Their Effectiveness

The D.C. Council has indicated that it will make permanent the 48 street corner surveillance cameras across the city. (By John Mcdonnell -- The Washington Post)

If you walk into a drugstore, chances are you'll be caught on a surveillance camera. If you happen by an ATM, you're probably in view of a lens. This summer, District officials added 48 troubled street corners to the list of places where you're likely to be recorded.

Now the D.C. Council seems poised to make permanent the temporary surveillance cameras installed this summer as part of crime emergency legislation.

The District joined the ranks of cities across the country when it installed the cameras to deter crime and catch criminals. The D.C. Council approved legislation in July during a spike in violence to allow the cameras to go up for several weeks. The measure expires next Thursday, but the council has indicated that it will make the cameras permanent.

D.C. Council member Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4), who is likely to become mayor after the general election in November, voted against the crime emergency package, which included the cameras. But after weighing the issue and listening to community activists, Fenty said he had changed his stance and now favors them. No other council member has publicly opposed them.

The city spent $2.3 million to purchase and install the devices and took about six weeks to get them affixed to strategic light posts. The Department of Public Works trimmed trees obstructing their view.

Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union have denounced the cameras, saying they are ineffective and susceptible to abuse. A police survey of advisory neighborhood commissioners found that 79 percent of those who responded strongly agreed that surveillance cameras would help prevent crime. Some community leaders are jockeying to get them close to where they live.

"With crime going on the way it is, we need more cameras," said community activist Sandra Seegars, who lives in Congress Heights, in Southeast Washington.

The cameras were placed on blocks where robberies, drug dealing and assaults frequently occur, police said. Their locations are also based on recommendations from Advisory Neighborhood Commissions and civic associations. They are distributed across the city, with 14 in Northeast, 12 in Southeast, 21 in densely populated Northwest and one in Southwest.

All are encased in bullet-resistant boxes.

"They are designed to take a significant blow," said police Capt. Victor Brito, who is in charge of the cameras.

The cameras have to adhere to restrictions, including that they observe only public spaces where there is no expectation of privacy. Police said that they primarily monitor wide areas and that arbitrary or discriminatory tracking of individuals is prohibited.

Police said they are using the cameras as part of a crime-fighting strategy that includes increased patrols and targeted enforcement in certain high-crime areas.