West Virginia city offers CCTV rebates for downtown businesses

When the city elders of Morgantown, West Virginia realized their town had a vandalism problem, they did not sit on their hands and complain about the youth who have no respect for anything anymore. Instead, they took an aggressive but subtle approach: offering rebates of up to $1,500 for downtown shopkeepers who installed security camera systems from a preselected group of vendors. It was not an original idea — Athens, Georgia served as the main inspiration — but it was a sound one. “The city is most interested in placing cameras outside, because businesses have had problems with broken windows,” said one city official. “But businesses are installing the cameras inside as well to help police identify individuals that commit theft or burglary, and to help monitor store employees.”

Two local firms, Morgantown-based Secure US and Westover-based Forbes Security Unlimited were chosen as the city’s two “preapproved vendors” (others may still be chosen.) Under the agreement, they offer a four-camera system option for about $5,000, meaning that those who use the rebate pay only $3,500. The package includes a digital video recorder, camera lenses protected by a Kevlar “armor dome,” and monitoring and installation. “A basic four-camera system will pay for itself within a year,” said Gary Deel of Secure US.

One other interesting feature: the cameras and DVR recorders are accesible via the internet, and under the deal both the security companies and the police have been provided full access. This may smack of big-brotherhood, but to us it sounds like sensible public policy. After all, if the city pays for the cameras, surely they should be allowed a peek.

-read more in Gary Gray’s Dominion Post report