The signs with the picture of an unknowing pedestrian staring up and smiling, posted on business windows along East Colfax Avenue, say it all: “Smile, You’re on Colfax BID (Business Improvement District) Camera.”
Four surveillance cameras went into operation late last week along East Colfax, and business owners have mixed reviews about whether they will be effective.
Greg Holle, the business district’s chairman, monitored a bus stop on his computer from a camera at Colfax and Logan Street on Tuesday afternoon.
“Typically around this time of day, I’d see at least eight folks gathered around plying their trade – drug dealing, prostitution,” Holle said. “We think the cameras already have made a big difference. There’s been quite a buzz out on the streets since the cameras were installed, and the feedback we’ve gotten from police is that people are more hesitant to transact ‘business’ down there.”
The district, which includes 531 businesses on East Colfax between Grant and Josephine streets, is leasing the cameras, along with digital recorders and software, for $620 a month.
The video-surveillance project will involve monitoring by Denver police. A police spokesman said officers have not yet begun tracking the number of incidents captured by the cameras.
Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey believes the cameras could assist in the prosecution of crimes.
“This combines the best of available technology with the best efforts of people, and the results should be dramatic,” Morrissey said in a prepared statement. The cameras, which hang in black plastic bubbles about 15 feet above the sidewalks at Colfax intersections with Logan, Grant and Pennsylvania streets, have the capability to spin 360 degrees and zoom in.
While no one disputes the need to crack down on illegal activity, some wonder whether the cameras will really deter crime or just push it into neighborhood streets. Some business owners questioned the need for cameras and why crime still is rampant in the area with the District 6 police station only a few blocks away.
“I just am not that excited about the cameras and having this continued surveillance out on the streets at all times,” said Louis Wolfe, owner of Wolfe’s Barbecue, 333 E. Colfax Ave.
