COLUMBIA, MO -- Voters approved it over a year ago and Monday night, the Columbia City Council is moving forward with security cameras in downtown Columbia.
The city council signed an agreement at city hall with a technology company that will handle the installation and maintenance of four new security cameras.
"The reason why residents voted for this is because they wanted cameras up to make things safer. If anything happens this would help officers have another tool to make an arrest and find out whom the perpetrators were,” Columbia 4th Ward Councilman Daryl Dudley said.
The push to get downtown cameras started nearly 2 years ago, when Adam Taylor was brutally beaten in a downtown parking garage.
Surveillance video captured it all, and helped lead police to arrest the suspects.
Taylor made a full recovery and, along with his mother, petitioned for more cameras in downtown Columbia.
They got nearly three thousand signatures to get it on the ballot and in April 2010 voters approved the measure.
The Columbia Police and City Council have decided to put the video cameras at four crime hotspots in downtown Columbia: Hitt and Broadway, 10th and Broadway, 10th and Cherry, 9th and Cherry.
"What we did was we went through a little crime analyst exercise and looked for where the major activity was during the evening hours and night hours. Those four locations rose to the top, Columbia’s Police Chief Kenneth Burton said.
After Monday night, ISG Technology Incorporated will start the planning and installation process.
But the company hasn't said when the cameras will be ready.
Tell us what you think. Do you think security cameras will help stop incidents occurring in downtown Columbia?
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