Despite fierce opposition from one city council member and a failed vote to delay action on the proposal, Hattiesburg officials approved the Project NOLA-based community camera sentry system Tuesday during the city council meeting.
The camera system – which is expected to include 10 citywide cameras in the first phase – is designed to see crimes occur in real time and help apprehend those criminals. Police Chief Anthony Parker made the presentation on the camera system during a November 2019 work session.
Parker said the camera system, which is used in Biloxi, New Orleans and Natchez, is only part of the police department’s efforts to prevent crime.
“This is just a tool,” he said. “We have other programs to engage the community. We are not relying on this to do the whole job. We need to get the community to buy into the program.”
Hattiesburg Ward 2 Councilwoman Deborah Delgado repeated her opposition to the camera system during Tuesday’s meeting, saying she believes other options would be more effective in deterring crime.
“My concern certainly is solving crimes,” she said. “My question more than anything else is ‘is this the way?’ I believe these cameras will give our community a false sense of security. I do know the cameras have a place, but that is a choice that I as a private citizen have made to protect my home. But it is a concern whether the government should be surveilling these individuals 24/7.”
Delgado said she believes the response to deterring crime is well-intentioned.
“But I’m wondering whether this is the step needed to be made,” she said. “On the front end, we have a greater responsibility at preventing. We’ve got to invest in prevention. That would deal with some of the societal ills that results in people choosing a life of crime.”
Mayor Toby Barker, who put the motion for the Project NOLA agreement on Tuesday’s agenda, said he supported the program because the ultimate responsibility of government is to keep citizens safe.
“I do believe this program can help law enforcement do their job,” he said. “I think it strikes a balance with protecting privacy rights while keeping our communities safe. When I get those phone calls at night when things have gone wrong, I want to ask myself, ‘Did I do everything I could to keep my community safe?’ I want that answer to be ‘Yes.’”
After the city council voted 2-3 in failing to table the motion – with Delgado and Ward 5 Councilman Nicholas Brown supporting the delay – the councilmembers voted 4-1 to approve the agreement to work with Project NOLA. Voting for the agreement were Brown, Ward 1 Councilman Jeffrey George, President Carter Carroll, and Ward 4 Councilwoman Mary Dryden; Delgado opposed it.
Hattiesburg will pay service fees to Project NOLA for the use of the subsidized cameras, depending on which cameras are used – $150 for a stationary camera, $375 for a small PTZ camera, and $475 for a long-range PTZ camera. PTZ technology allows cameras to pan and zoom in by remote control.
Project NOLA will provide constant recording at the Project NOLA Real-Time Crime Center, and recordings will be maintained for 10 days. The annual fee for recording provided by Project NOLA is $240 per camera for 2- or 3-megapixel equipment or $300 for 4-megapixel.