STARKVILLE — A 4-3 vote by Starkville aldermen Tuesday spelled the end for the city’s proposed camera ordinance.
Proposed two months ago, the ordinance would require businesses and retail centers 10,000 square feet or larger and have 50 or more parking spaces to have a surveillance camera system, with camera coverage inside the building and in parking lots.
Aldermen held three public hearings and discussed the matter several times at work sessions.
Research by the Starkville Police Department showed the ordinance as written would affect 50 total businesses, with 44 of those having at least one confirmed camera in place. Police Chief Mark Ballard has also voiced support for the value of cameras to crime investigations.
“I do think that safety and security is dependent on us solving crime, and I think those cameras are a critical piece of us solving whatever happens,” Mayor Lynn Spruill said Tuesday in support of the ordinance.
The majority of the board disagreed, with Ward 3 Alderman Jeffrey Rupp, Ward 4 Alderman Mike Brooks, Ward 5 Alderman Hamp Beatty and Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn opposed.
Ward 1’s Kim Moreland, Ward 2’s Sandra Sistrunk and Vice Mayor Roy A. Perkins, of Ward 6, supported the measure.
Business owner George Sherman, who previously voiced his objections to the ordinance, appeared before the board once again to express concern. He said he thinks cameras are a great idea but opposes “putting the burden of the expense of having these cameras that protect all of us on a few.”
Opposing aldermen acknowledged the merits of the proposal, but they tended to lean toward Sherman’s position.
“I think we’ve got the best police department, and I think we need cameras,” Rupp said. “But on principle, I think if it is truly a public safety issue, the public ought to participate in paying for those cameras.”
Beatty also championed some sort of public funding for businesses that would have to purchase cameras. Vaughn asked if there were any incentives the city could offer.
In contrast, Moreland said, “I know it is an expense, but over a period of time and knowing you’ve got to do it, it kind of gives you time to prepare for it.”
Perkins offered emphatic support for the ordinance. He rejected suggestions that the city fund camera purchases.
“We cannot afford them. We cannot do that. That is not economical and feasible,” he said. “… We need to take a stand and show strong leadership, and that’s what we are elected to do.”
Spruill told The Dispatch after the meeting she had no plans to reintroduce the proposal.
Merits versus burdens
After the vote, Sherman told The Dispatch he hopes the city found another way to implement the plan.
“I would like to see our city safer, and if the cameras are going to make us safer, I would like to see the city take it upon itself to put cameras where they think it’s strategically beneficial to the police department to help deter and solve crime,” he said.
Beatty told The Dispatch he voted against the proposal because of “governments putting a mandate on a business that’s already conforming to all of our requirements, paying their taxes and things like that.”
Moreland cited Sunday’s fatal shooting at a West Point nightclub as one reason she supported the ordinance.
“Anything that we can do to help the police department solve any types of crimes quicker,” she said. “I can’t say that we can prevent it from happening, but we can get families justice if it does and get leads to close cases.
Kevin Edwards is news editor and reports on Starkville and Oktibbeha County government.
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