BY LEON B. CREWS<\/b><\/p>\n
Sentinel Staff Writer<\/b><\/p>\n
On Thursday, Tampa Police Captain Michael Baumaister<\/b> made a presentation to the City Council on the use of the RNC cameras.<\/p>\n
Capt. Baumaister<\/b> said he\u2019s happy to report that the cameras have been very effective in reducing illegal dumping, especially in the East Tampa community. He also explained how it is determined where the cameras are installed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe District Majors determine where the cameras are going to be placed, and we react to their request. They have primarily been used in areas of high crime, and we\u2019ve seen a reduction in crime in those areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councilman Frank Reddick<\/b> asked if the cameras were really playing a significant role in reducing cr\u201cUsing what\u2019s happening in Chicago as an example, cameras were put everywhere the violent events have occurred, and if anything, the crime rate has increased. I also know that prostitution in Chicago has increased.<\/p>\n
Capt. Baumaister<\/b> said covert cameras were used in Rowlett Park to monitor activities, ad alleviate the need for an officer to be present.<\/p>\n
Councilman Reddick<\/b> said in his opinion, that\u2019s an invasion of privacy, and people don\u2019t want to be spied on when they are doing something recreationally or as a family.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cameras are put in the public areas, not where the rental shelters are,\u201d said Capt. Baumaister<\/b>.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to create a safe atmosphere. It\u2019s a summer initiative, and we ask our commanders to come up with hot spots. The cameras are not permanent fixtures, ad have also been used to try to capture other illegal acts.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the issue of an invasion of privacy, City Attorney Rebecca Kirk<\/b> said if you\u2019re in a public park, you don\u2019t have an expectation of privacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re out in public, people shouldn\u2019t be surprised to see cameras.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councilman Reddick<\/b> said as far as the cameras being put in parks, he does consider that an invasion of privacy, and he also said the act sounds like \u201ca police state at our parks.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cameras have predominantly been used in the downtown area and in Ybor City. Some of the cameras are fixed, and others are mobile.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Majors ask about the high profile crime areas, and that\u2019s where the cameras go,\u201d said Capt. Baumaister<\/b>.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny footage the cameras capture is kept for 30 days, then erased.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer On Thursday, Tampa Police Captain Michael Baumaister made a presentation to the City Council on the use of the RNC cameras. Capt. Baumaister said he\u2019s happy to report that the cameras have been very effective in reducing illegal dumping, especially in the East Tampa community. He also explained […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23885\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}