Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 11, 1993 TAG: 9307110058
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium
Virginia Beach police have asked for five remote cameras to help keep tabs on traffic and resort strip crowds, said Capt. W.W. Baker.
"You can have police officers on every corner, but they can't see everything," he said.
The City Council will decide Tuesday whether to spend $150,000 for the closed-circuit surveillance system.
Police would watch the cameras from a station on 18th Street, the city's most active station during the summer.
The surveillance system has the blessing of the Resort Leadership Council, an umbrella group representing most oceanfront businesses. It also has the backing of a group of civic and church leaders.
The Virginia Beach Hotel and Motel Association offered to pay $10,000 toward the cameras' cost. Businesses have asked for greater police protection during the busy resort season.
Police have already been monitoring summertime crowds for several years, using rooftop video cameras, Baker said. They even filmed rioters who looted and vandalized Atlantic Avenue shops during the 1989 Labor Day weekend.
An expanded video system would help police spot and assess traffic and crowd problems more quickly and dispatch officers accordingly, Baker said.
Ron Kuhlman, the city's tourism marketing director, said similar systems have been installed at the King's Dominion and Busch Gardens amusement parks in Virginia, as well as at other tourism centers such as Daytona Beach, Fla.
"Daytona has been using it for six years," he said. "And the feedback from their visitors indicates it's been a success."
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.