STARKVILLE — Starkville’s proposed camera ordinance will meet its fate Tuesday.
Aldermen set a vote on the measure at its work session Friday. The vote will follow a third public hearing on the ordinance.
The final proposal has been tweaked from when it was first offered two months ago and includes changes based on public feedback.
Business and retail centers that are 10,000 square feet or larger and have 50 or more parking spaces would be required to install cameras in entrances, exits and parking lots. That is a change from the first version of the ordinance that set the threshold at 5,000 square feet or 25 or more parking spaces. Businesses that sell liquor or hemp also fall under the ordinance regardless of size or parking spaces.
Mayor Lynn Spruill also said if a business already has some sort of interior camera system in place, it would not be required to install more cameras at entrances.
As written, the final version of the ordinance would apply to 50 locations in Starkville.
In a presentation to the board, Police Chief Mark Ballard said 44 of locations have some sort of camera system already. He said it is unknown if the remaining six locations have camera systems at all.
“What we’ve learned through our own analytics, we don’t go after the robber. We go after the robber’s vehicle,” he said. “This is why the importance of parking lots can’t be understated.”
Ballard said the police department is prepared to guide affected businesses on effective camera systems.
“A lot of these businesses go in with the template of avoiding theft and inventory concerns,” he said. “That’s fine and good, but there’s a very real threat within our community of when violence takes place, oftentimes it’s in these parking lots and those cameras are failing to be able to capture it.”
Ward 3 Alderman Jeffrey Rupp asked if the city has considered a partnership with businesses to provide funding for cameras in exchange for access to camera data.
“I think it’s a far lesser leap to be able to say, ‘Your camera, your data,’” Ballard responded. “We don’t want to manage it, but if something happens that we need it, then we’ll go through a judicial review to access it.”
“I really think we ought to let the property owners manage (camera footage) unless we need it,” Spruill said. “We may not ever need it, but we may. And if we do, we’re going to wish we had it.” She added she wasn’t sure whether the city was legally allowed to consider such a step.
“I think the cameras are important,” Rupp said. “But I think the discussion about our role in that is also important.”
Kevin Edwards is news editor and reports on Starkville and Oktibbeha County government.
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