Mount Pleasant has had dozens of surveillance cameras in its high-crime commercial areas for two years, but this is the first time they'll be monitoring residential streets. Councilman Zach Reed says he secured funding for the 7 new cameras because the commercial cameras have been so effective.
REED: They're clearly a deterrent. I can tell you, if you went to 131st and Melzer, that location, where our Boys and Girls club was, morning, noon, and night, you had individuals who would stand there, loiter, and do bad things in that particular area. Now with the cameras located there, on hardware store, you see little or no individuals there at any time of day.
But as crime went down around businesses, some drug dealers and other offenders moved onto residential streets. City officials and community leaders hope these new cameras will keep criminals on the run, and out of their comfort zone.