Cameras proposed for downtown

February 1, 2007
Source: The Arizona Republic



by JJ Hensley
The Arizona Republic

Surveillance cameras could be watching you in downtown Mesa if a merchant group's proposal gains support.

The Downtown Mesa Association proposed a demonstration project, which would use cameras already in place on the East Valley Tribune's building at First Street and Macdonald, as a way to deter some of the "nuisance behavior" that goes on in the area, said DMA president Tom Verploegen.

But the cameras don't constitute the proverbial "big Brother" making an appearance in downtown Mesa.

"The first thing people turn to is privacy," said David Ly, president of IntelaSight, the downtown Mesa surveillance company involved in the project. "One hundred percent of my customer base, they're calling us to protect their assets, they're not calling me to intrude on anyone's privacy."

Verploegen sees the program as a response to the needs of merchants, who grow weary of coping with the vagrancy and petty crime that occurs in the square-mile downtown district.

"It would be our intent to look at those parking lots. There's been some cars broken into there, there's some homeless in those parking lots," he said. "It's about safety and security."

DMA board members met with representatives from the Mesa Police Department last month to discuss the program.

The city wouldn't have to pay for the service, said Ly, who describes the proposed arrangement as a partnership among his company, an IntelaSight client - in this case, the Tribune - and private organization, the DMA.

"It's a private-public cooperation. We're saying, 'Hey, let's help our police departments, let's cooperate with them. Here's a technical means of cooperation,'" said Ly, who started IntelaSight in 2003.

His company's cameras are in use at businesses and in neighborhoods with homeowners' associations throughout the Valley.

The company also has a surveillance camera in a Florence park, Ly said, and expanding in markets such as San Francisco and Pasadena, Calif., where IntelaSight is working with governements and law enforcement to upgrade equipment and install more cameras.

The cameras provide surveillance which private security companies, business owners or police departments can monitor. For an addtional fee of $1.50 to $2.50 per hour, per camera, IntelaSight workers will monitor the site, including use of cameras with a radio function that allows employees to alert perpetrators when they're on private property and when the police are going to be called.

Mesa police Sgt. Chuck Trapani said if a crime were to occur within the cameras' range, Mesa police would use the footage just like any other surveillance film from a crime scene.

 

 

 

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