By Lynn R. Mitchell
Police Chief Tim Longo’s call for surveillance cameras in downtown Charlottesville is amplified by letter writer Floyd Hurt in today’s Daily Progress (see Listen to calls for security cameras):
In the midst of the turmoil and investigation surrounding the Hannah Graham abduction, we must not overlook one very important factor: Chief Longo has asked the City Council time and again for cameras to be installed on the Downtown Mall. To no avail.
There was some concern about invasion of privacy, another concern about cost.
Really? We are surveilled almost all the time. Every bank, every big box store, airports.
Were it not for the cameras in a couple of businesses on the Mall and elsewhere, there would have been virtually no clues in this case. In the interest of public safety, the fear of being surveilled should be lodged in those doing wrong, not in the public at large.
Sounds like the police chief had it right in his desire to be proactive instead of reactive. Will city council listen?
