CINCINNATI -- The City of Cincinnati believes it has one of the best new tools to fight crime on city streets.
The city is installing high-tech surveillance cameras in the Uptown area that includes Clifton, Avondale and Corryville.
These new surveillance cameras will be able to pan, zoom and possibly capture a criminal’s image from at least two blocks away.
The surveillance cameras you see posted on light poles like the one at the corner of
East Corry and Short Vine in Clifton don't always capture enough of a suspect's image for police to make a positive ID.
However, Chief Tom Streicher says the video on the new enhanced surveillance camera will record images that look as clear as what you see on television.
"If they see something suspicious, we can zoom right in on it. In fact, we can get license plate numbers from a couple blocks away," Streicher explained at a Monday afternoon press conference held at the Clifton Fire House on Ludlow Avenue.
The Uptown community of Clifton wanted to be one of the first to get the new cameras.
Uptown Consortium raised $132,000 to help with the installation of four cameras at the corner of Corry and Vine, Ludlow and Clifton, Burnet and Rockdale as well as the 2600 block of Vine Street.
"In some cases, we're looking at these cameras to be a deterrent. People will see the cameras and think twice about busting a car window or something like that. Sometimes it's just graffiti," said Michael Elovitz, who is vice-president of the group, Clifton Town Meeting.
Gilbert Eversole believes the area of Uptown on Short Vine and Corry has a lot of potential to become a thriving business district again.
However, he believes in order to build it back up, police will need to chip away at the criminals who have taken over some areas of the neighborhood by committing store robberies.
He's not convinced the cameras will work.
"If you had a cop walking up and down the strip everyday, he could probably save your life, but the camera ain't going to do nothing but just tell the story. It ain't going to bring you back to life," Eversole said.
Chief Streicher says the cameras are not meant to replace officers on patrol, but will help put more eyes on the street.
The new surveillance cameras will start going up in the Uptown area in January.
