The city of Dallas’ Public Safety Committee is scheduled to discuss the city’s surveillance camera program this afternoon. And this briefing to the committee from Ryan Evans, first assistant city manager, includes a list of 26 “Targeted Action Area Grids” for violent crimes based on statistics from 2008. No. 8 on the list is “Cedar Springs Wycliff,” which is a 0.8-square-mile area that appears to include the Cedar Springs strip. Does this mean surveillance cameras are coming to the strip anytime soon? It’s hard to say based on the briefing, which notes that crime is down significantly in the only two areas of the city that currently have cameras, the Central Business District and Jubilee Park. The briefing states that the biggest obstacle to expanding the program is cost, and especially personnel to monitor the cameras.
What does the Cedar Springs Merchants Association have to say about this? They should be raising money for installing as many of these cameras on the strip as possible. Crime is a huge concern around the bars and businesses in the neighborhood, so this need to be a priority.