housing for camera S.F. public housing cameras no help in homicide arrests

CAMERA_011_MBK.JPG Tia Miller hang out with friends and family on Monday, August, 2007 at the SFHA housing project at Eddie and Laguna point, San Francisco, California.Photo Shoot: 8/13/07 Mike Kane/Chronicle * mandatory credit for Tia Miller PHOTOG and SF Chronicle/no sale-Lesscamer_011_mbk came out.JPG Tia Miller hang out with friends and family on Monday, August, 2007 at the SFHA housing project at Eddie and Laguna point, San Francisco, California.Photo Shoot: 8/13/07 Mike Kane/Chronicle * mandatory credit for Tia Miller PHOTOG and SF Chronicle/no sale-Mags out has reduced the number of cameras that monitor the development of public housing in San Francisco by 178, which have never helped police arrest a murder suspect, although about 25 killings have occurred in public housing or property in the city, city officials said.No one monitors the cameras and only sees the video when police specifically ask San Francisco Housing Authority officials to monitor the cameras.According to police and city officials, these cameras occasionally miss the crimes that took place in front of them because they were trained in another direction, and the footage was particularly blurry on the night when most crimes took place.Similar concerns were raised in 70 cities.Own camera in high-Crime spots around San FranciscoIn the past two years, the federal government has used money to install 178 public housing cameras, the subject of a hearing by the Public Safety Committee of the regulatory commission on Monday.So far this year, 66 murders have taken place in San Francisco, compared with 85 in 2006.According to statistics from the mayor's criminal justice office, on average, about one quarter of murder occurs in public housing or nearby each year.Although the housing authority did not record how often its cameras were arrested in the crime, a housing authority official and a police lieutenant told the commission that they did not know the footage that had been used to arrest the suspect.The city has its own security camera program, with 70 cameras at 25 heights.Place of crimeNone of them are on the Federal Housing Authority property, but many of them are right on the corner outside of them.The operation of city cameras is roughly the same;Part of the reason is that they are not routinely monitored for privacy reasons, but the police can provide the video as requested.Lenore Anderson, director of the mayor's criminal justice office, said she did not know if there were any city cameras used to arrest in a murder case.More research is needed on security cameras, she said, as Monday's hearing was based primarily on anecdotal evidence."We absolutely support the investigation into the effectiveness of these measures and look forward to continuing the dialogue," she said .".Housing Authority funded by the US governmentS.The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has 53 housing development projects in the city, including 6,360 apartments, inhabited by approximately 12,000 tenants, most of whom have low income.Since the first cameras were installed in the summer of 2005, the authority has spent $203,603 on the purchase and maintenance of the cameras.It plans to install 81 more cameras, but has not yet set a date.Committee chairman and Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi held a hearing after learning from frustrated Western Public Housing Development residents that the crime in front of the camera did not lead to arrest.Mirkarimi, who has been an outspoken critic of the Housing Authority, said the ineffective camera was an example of the agency's job woes.He said he would hold a hearing soon to discuss the possibility of the city taking over federal authorities, an idea that has been raised and rejected in the past."The city should be more active in determining the fate and future of the housing authority, including looking at the city that took over it," he said on Monday .".In the past 12 months, four killings have taken place at the intersection of Laguna Street and Eddie Street.At the corner of the Square East public housing development-Including killing 19 people during the day.year-old in May.Mirkarimi said a security camera was trained in that corner, but so far has not been shown to be useful for the arrest of anyone.Both the Housing Authority and the city have many security cameras in the area, and it was not clear on Monday whether the cameras were purchased by the Housing Authority or the city.Mirkarimi said that in any case, the cameras did not help to arrest these crimes."They feel strongly that they are not working," Mirkarimi said of the new West residents' views on security cameras ."."They're just angry and why they don't know why it's not all happening.He added that he believes that cameras may have a "scarecrow effect" because they give residents a safer feeling when they actually have little impact on crime.Tim Larsen, general counsel for the Housing Authority, said he received a call from the police station about every two weeks asking for camera footage.He said cameras are useful in other crimes.Including two weeks ago, a woman attacked with a gun in a house development on Sanchez Street.Lt.John Murphy of the details of the killings said the quality of the camera photos was "poor" and said that the crimes committed at night were often just shadow characters running in dark clothes."Bang, bang, bang-"They went back into the shadows," Murphy said ."."You see where it happened, but to identify someone?No," he said."It would be great if we could improve the technology in any way.He pointed out that other jurisdictions pay people to monitor cameras and they can actually detect the impending crime and report it to the police in a timely manner to prevent it.The housing authority wants to pay staff for surveillance cameras at any time, Larsen said, but the agency's shrinking budget makes the money a challenge.Other pressing needs, including the rehabilitation of dilapidated public housing development, are vying for the same funding, he said."It's a balance," he said .""What is more important?It is clear that safety is important, but the roof and sewer are also important.Larsen also stressed that cameras are just one of the many tools to reduce crime in public housing development.Other initiatives include a community policing plan in which police try to be part of the community, to know the residents, not just to respond to emergencies, but to implement counter-measuresRegulations on illegal intrusionGreg Forner, director of Housing Authority, was out of town and did not attend the meeting on Monday.He said he was contacted by phone and he thought the camera was preventing crime."You can't measure crimes that have not been committed," he said ."."The truth is, we tried something.It works if it works, but it doesn't work if it doesn't work.At least we are working hard.Give it to us if anyone has a better idea.