After trial run, Elizabeth City adding 18 cameras

ELEIZABETH CITY, N.C.

Six neighborhood security cameras have helped Elizabeth City police make arrests in two shootings, a hit-and-run and a car burglar y.

So now they're going to add 18 more.

"They've made people feel safer," Councilwoman Betty Meiggs said.

Scenes are recorded for viewing later, or police can watch them live at the station.

In March, a camera on Queen Street showed a man firing a pistol, said Capt. Frank Koch of the Elizabeth City Police Department.

"The dude was out there just firing away," he said. "You could see the smoke coming out."

When cameras were first proposed, critics cited cost and loss of privacy. City officials debated for months over buying first 40 and then 20 cameras before voting it down. Last year, the council settled on a test program of six cameras at a cost of $97,000.

The additional 18 cameras, at a cost of $171,000, could be divided among the four wards, but police can put them where they are needed most, Meiggs said.

Bell, Cypress, Greenleaf, Harney, Queen and Banks streets, where the cameras are mounted, are better places to live now, said the Rev. Wilbert Tatum, president of the Sawyertown Community Watch and chairman of the Mayor's Crime Task Force.

"If we had one on every corner, it would be ideal," Tatum said.

Drug convictions come more easily with a witness and cameras can be more reliable than people, said District Attorney Frank Parrish.

"Any technology can shed some light," he said. "They're not on a side. They record an objective record."

In 1997, a community watch group formed in the Sawyertown area to help police nab drug dealers. Police couldn't make arrests unless they caught criminals in the act. Neighbors called when they saw activity.

A deteriorating house at Bell and Harney streets served as a base for crack cocaine dealers. Buyers would swing onto the street from U.S. 17, drive by first to alert sellers, then on the second pass make the purchase without getting out of the car. It was a quick exit back to U.S. 17.

The operation was shut down thanks in large part to the community group. The cameras add to the community's ability to keep watch, Tatum said.

In 1999, police conducted a large sting using fake cocaine, undercover officers and another hidden officer videotaping the transaction. At least 23 were arrested.

About three years ago, the late Carlton White began allowing officers to hide in his shed on Grady Street and watch criminal activity through a hole in the wall.

He later proposed cameras to help keep a more constant watch.

Jeff Hampton, (252) 338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com