Huntington Beach Leaders Divided Over Plan To Install Surveillance Cameras Downtown
HUNTINGTON BEACH (CBSLA.com) — A plan to install surveillance cameras all over downtown Huntington Beach has city leaders pitted against each other.
Councilman Jim Katapodis, who is an LAPD officer, recently voted to ask the Huntington Beach Police Department to look into the possibility of using cameras in an effort to reduce crime in the area.
"I find them very effective as far as a deterrent to crime," said Katapodis. "Not only that, but they're great evidence when there is a crime."
Some City Council members, however, said surveillance cameras may be appropriate for privately owned malls, but not for public areas in terms of privacy.
Katapodis responded, "Let's face it. There are cameras everywhere. Everybody has a phone. Everybody on their cellphone has a video. If you look on YouTube, you can see videos of people all day. So the whole privacy part is really gone now."
Police told KCAL9's Stacey Butler they will look into placing the cameras in high crime areas, but wouldn't say exactly where.
