Attention, Ne'er-do-wells: Manned Security Cameras Are Coming to the Loop

We know some of our readers really, really hate security cameras -- in fact, they hate the entire system of private property that makes security cameras necessary.

Well, bad news for those folks: The Loop is going to get security cameras this summer.

The nabe's grand poobah, Joe Edwards, tells Daily RFT that the exact number of cameras has not been determined, although the network will cost some $160,000 to install and will be manned in real-time by the University City police.

In case police can't get to a crime scene in time to prevent an incident, Edwards adds, the cameras would be powerful enough to zoom in on a face or a license plate. They'll mostly go up on existing buildings, but eventually, he hopes, they'll be in the parking lots and on sidewalks, too.
Cpt. Mike Ransom, tells us "the cameras are just in conceptual stage at this point," and to check back in a month and a half for more specifics. Edwards echoes this, that the details will all be hammered out within the next eight weeks.

Asked whether he's gotten any flak from the privacy-rights camp, Edwards says, "not at all."

He also adds some good news: according to crime stats released two weeks ago by the city, crime is at a 40-year low in the Loop.

(See also recent coverage in Wash U.'s student newspaper and KSDK)