Big Brother watching the streets of downtown Bellingham
(cont'd) Many people in downtown’s business community support the new cameras because they are fed up with people loitering on the sidewalks. And many visitors to downtown are wary of walking the streets after dark.
“I’m all about the cameras,” said Kevin Robinson, an employee at Avalon Music on Railroad Avenue. “I stand here and watch some insane things: drug deals, hookers getting picked up, teenage girls with kids in strollers, just hangin’ out for hours.”
Robinson said he supports the use of surveillance cameras as long as the police use them well. Ideally, the cameras will make it safer and more comfortable to visit downtown and shop.
“It’s all the panhandling that brings Bellingham down,” Robinson said. “It would be great to have a cop on every block, but it makes more sense to have one cop watching video of four or five blocks.”
While Robinson fully supports a responsible use of the cameras, other people in downtown’s business community oppose them and are skeptical of their ability to aid law enforcement.
“They could have afforded another (officer) downtown instead of trying to scare people with cameras,” said Andrew Herndon, the senior supervisor at Cellophane Square, a music store across the intersection from Avalon Music.
Photo by Luke Henning
Lt. Scott Snider stands in the control room at the Bellingham Police Department and controls a camera on the corner of Chestnut Street and Railroad Avenue.
“We have phones, and we call the cops a lot. (Surveillance cameras) seem like a ridiculous waste of money. I don’t know what good they are doing.” —>
Copyright © 2005 Western Washington University