Camera cuts crime, at least on one corner

Police say a surveillance camera posted this summer at the corner of Fremont and 15th streets is already deterring crime there, although it's too early to say specifically what the impact is or whether more cameras will be installed elsewhere.

"It's made a big difference," said Capt. William Minor, who heads the Metropolitan Police Department's Downtown Area Command.

"Great area to do it. It's been a very good pilot."

The video camera, encased in a bulletproof box and perched high above the intersection in an area known for prostitution and drug dealing, was installed in August.

A clearer picture of the three-month pilot project will be provided by researchers at the University of Las Vegas, Nevada, who are comparing crime reports in the surveillance area to similar areas without cameras.

The comparison imposes some controls on the experiment, noted UNLV criminal justice professor William Sousa, so that the camera won't get credit for a general decrease in crime.

Researchers are also conducting surveys of downtown business owners, residents and police officers to gauge how people feel about the neighborhood after the camera's installation.

"Those surveys are actually being done as we speak," Sousa said.

Capt. Minor, meanwhile, credits the camera and greater cooperation between police and the public with reducing, and shifting, crime along Fremont Street.

He cites maps of "calls for service" along the Fremont Street corridor. In 2006, there were dozens of calls for all crimes except those involving property from the Fremont Street Experience to the Fremont/15th Street intersection.

Maps for this year, though, show calls decreasing steadily. In the period since the cameras were installed, reports at Fremont and 15th dropped precipitously, while the number of reports shot up six blocks away at Fremont and 21st streets.

Such "displacement" can be a good thing, Minor said.

"If you have an area where it has become a comfortable norm to see activity such as prostitution or drug dealing, that activity is not recognized," he said.

The camera forced those activities to move to areas where they stand out, he said.

The camera is part of a broader effort to police the downtown area.

Las Vegas police meet regularly with citizen and business councils and try to share information with the city of Las Vegas and Clark County to combat chronic nuisances, such as unkempt properties and graffiti.

The camera has been controversial, with the Nevada ACLU raising privacy concerns and wondering whether police are adopting an untested approach that might not reduce crime.

Those attending a recent meeting of downtown residents and business owners, though, told Minor that they supported the installation of more police cameras downtown.

Las Vegas police are testing cameras from three vendors. The testing ends next month, Minor said, after which the department could select a vendor and request funds for a permanent camera.

So far, he said, the camera program hasn't cost any money.

Officials concede the program is not a magic bullet.

"Fremont Street has always been a haven" for crime, Minor said. "We've just been banging our heads up against the wall, chasing it."

Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or (702) 229-6435.