Public comment
Steven Cherry said both major studies of surveillance cameras, conducted in 2002 and 2005, show that they are not effective at reducing crime. The Department of Justice has recommendations for reducing crime, and they are community policing, foot and bicycle patrols, active neighborhood watches, and improved communication between citizens and the police department. $48,000 would go a long way to funding police reserves and other proven methods of reducing street crime. More police presence on the sidewalks would have a positive effect on visitors and residents. He asked the council to postpone the resolution to have a conversation with their constituents and look at the research. There are proven, effective ways to reduce crime, and this isn’t one of them.

I, Hillary Cherry, said that I was speaking on my own behalf and not for any group, but that I have been involved in crime prevention through HCI and Weed&Seed for more than 3 years. I know that people are looking for an easy solution to crime, but video surveillance is not an effective means of prevention. $50,000 is a lot of money, and that is only the initial cost. There will be ongoing maintenance costs. Bicycle patrols, foot patrols, and directed traffic patrols in areas of high crime are what work. The police reserves are a very cost effective way of increasing police presence.
There have been a lot of studies done on surveillance cameras. One of them, done in a subway system, showed that there is increased reporting where there cameras, causing the stations with cameras to have recorded crime rates higher than stations without. One of the immediate effects could be that Joseph Campau will appear to have a crime rate 10% to 15% higher than the rest of the city.
The DDA signed an MOA with the Weed & Seed group two years ago to create a Business Watch. No one from the DDA has attended Weed&Seed meetings. I’m very concerned about the continuation of the grant if the promises of the city are not kept.
The cameras being considered were redundant because the grant bought mobile cameras for the police department that can be moved from car to car, and monitored on site. This proposal was not based on any local studies. The worst crimes happen in the alley. The alleys will not be covered at all under the proposal.
The city is financially strapped, and we are still paying off loans that the DDA incurred many years ago. I asked that the council delay the decision and direct the DDA to work with the Weed & Seed group on a real, community-based, crime prevention program.
Bob Zwolak was an early proponent of the security cameras. The city council had asked the city manager to follow up with a report on it. Now the DDA has followed through on it. The proposal is costly, and he wanted to see the city council follow through with the cost and impact statement requested while he was on the council. He asked them to postpone the decision because a lot could be done with that amount of money.
Zwolak was concerned about whether a cost analysis or impact statement had been prepared for new union contracts. The city has unfunded pension obligations that are not being addressed.
As to the Housing Commission appointment, he wanted to remind the council that Mr. Balcerzak, a veteran and member of the school board, was removed from the Housing Commission based on a bogus charge against him.
The legal fees from Allen Brothers on the Gordon issue continue to rise. There was a new $15,000 payment to his firm on the fund warrant list, bringing the total spent to well over $60,000. An investigation by our police department or a recall would have been more cost effective.
Zwolak is still confused about Allen Brothers contract, their retainer, and all the other billings. An in-house attorney could be hired for the cost of the retainer.
Public hearings
No one spoke about the amendment to the wastewater code or cross-connection codes.
Unfinished business
All voted in favor of the ordinance amending the wastewater codes.
All voted in favor of the ordinance regulating cross-connections.
All voted in favor of the consent agenda.
New business
Police contracts: Gordon thought that the ROA got the same raise as the FOP. The contract new says that Sergeants are to be paid %12 more than patrol officers, rather than the traditional 10% pay increase. Gordon asked what the city is getting in return. Cooper replied that he wasn’t able to get everything he wanted. He went over a draft of the contract with the council before the ROA voted. Algazali voted against both the ROA and FOP contracts, but they passed.
Chair waivers: Ahmed asked if all the waivers were being requested because of the recent ordinance about rules for commissions. Klein confirmed that it was. Ahmed asked if they were going to have to approve officers for every commission. Klein said that every commission that has decided not to elect new officers has to get approval. Cooper pointed to the minutes of the Historical Commission in the council’s packet that states their wish.
Waivers for Greg Kowalski, Bill Meyer, Ahmed Al-Ammari, and Sanjaya Zuko(?) were subsequently approved.
Pick-up: Ahmed asked what color the truck with be. Gordon asked if it was a red mini-van with spinning hubcaps. The purchase was approved unanimously.
Workman’s comp insurance: Algazali asked if there was bidding. Cooper said there were 5 bids received. The contract he recommended was not the lowest, but there have been numerous servicing problems with the current carrier, the lowest bidder. The city will get excess coverage with a limit on liabilities that would have saved the city $300,000 in the last 5 years. The addition cost will be $6000 per year. One major claim could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is a 3-year contract that can be canceled at any time with proper notice.
Gordon asked if the officer injured during the blackout would be covered. Cooper said the new company will handle the claim, but the excess coverage will not apply.
Surveillance: Downtown manager Darren Grow discounted the value of the studies and had to go back to 1997 to find a study with anecdotal improvements in crime rates. He met with the site coordinator and Sharon Buttry from Weed & Seed, but did not know that the previous DDA manager had signed an MOA with the group until that day. He doesn’t consider the cameras and community policing mutually exclusive. He wants community policing, but said the DDA wants to do this right now. The DDA has $20,000 per year to spend, which would only pay one police officer for 3 to 4 months.
Grow said that the city is completing with Royal Oak, Birmingham, and Ferndale, and claimed that it may send the wrong message to shoppers if the city does not spend money on surveillance.
They were looking at 4 cameras between Caniff and Holbrook with a 1/4 mile radius, though the resolution is decreased by distance. The DDA met with Interim Chief Mathias and Sgt Tripp and that is where the recommendation came from. The antenna will be on top of the building at Belmont and Joseph Campau. A DVR will save the recording for 2 weeks and will be high enough quality to meet evidence standards. He is not very technical and doesn’t understand the details.
Klein asked which proposal was being accepted. Grow said that it wasn’t the least expensive or the most expensive. Their decision was influenced by a visit to the Royal Oak and Birmingham police departments.
Algazali said that this was a step in the right direction, and the DDA should do more community policing. There are crimes happening midday on Joseph Campau, and there are too many closed businesses. He said they should make the district safer, and that they should find some other ways.
Ahmed also supported the cameras because he thinks that the police will watch them 24 hours a day. He assumes that it would take 30 minutes to ride a bicycle across town on Joseph Campau.
Gordon said that no one would watch the screen. It would be recorded. Klein said there would be a live feed.
Gordon said that the cameras are not a deterrent against crime, and instead, are facilitators for the police. There is money in drug forfeiture. The DDA should not be going into debt for cameras, and the city still owes for the streetscape. She was on the DDA when the MOA was signed, and there is a section in the grant that has to do with community policing. She wanted to know what was being done and what the plans are within the district. There are certain things required by the grant, and she doesn’t want to see it lost. Gordon made a motion to postpone the resolution, but Stackpoole, Shulgon, and Ahmed voted against postponing it.
Gordon asked if the city is responsible for loans taken out by the DDA because she didn’t think the city was liable. Cooper said that wasn’t true. Gordon asked for Allen’s opinion, but he was not in the room.
Algazali asked about getting money from drug forfeiture or Weed & Seed. Grow said he checked, but there wasn’t money left in either budget.
Gordon tried to withdraw her resolution. Allen, who had come in, said that the person to second the resolution had to agree. Stackpoole refused to withdraw.
Stackpoole thanked Grow for the proposal. Grow said that Ed Mepham from Polish Market deserved the credit. Stackpoole said there is merit in the cameras because other cities are doing it. She agreed that there needed to be more community policing, and that Weed and Seed got money for community policing, but the grant was reduced. She said that the committee is trying to get people out, and the cameras would fit with those efforts.
Gordon asked again if the city is liable for DDA expenses. Allen replied that the city is liable because the money for the DDA comes from the city through Tax Increment Financing. If someone sues the DDA, they will sue the city as a party.
Klein reiterated that the cameras would be on 24 hours today and that the police could take action and intervene without being called. Ahmed, Stackpoole, and Shulgon voted for the resolution. Gordon and Algazali voted against it. It passed.