Mayor Kara King requested the council address the issue of installing cameras at Central Park at the Hill Country Galleria after seeing social media posts in neighborhood community groups online.
Although the posts expressed concern about crime in the park, Police Chief Brian Jones said cases of criminal activity in the area are down to nine cases this year from 14 year to date in 2021 and 12 year to date in 2020.
City Manager Clint Garza said if surveillance cameras were installed, he would recommend regulations on what would prompt authorities to pull footage.
“We can’t be pulling footage for every scraped knee,” he said.
Jones said common criminal activity in the area involves break-ins, especially of cars that have been left unlocked. He said those visiting the galleria often develop a false sense of security.
He said license plate readers help law enforcement narrow down which vehicles were in an area when a crime was committed and have produced investigative leads where they have been used in other parts of the city.
After explaining cameras, such as the Flock Safety camera, which only records license plate information, the council voted in favor of purchasing two comparable cameras that cost about $2,800 per camera to install plus an annual maintenance fee.
Council Member Kevin Hight said he liked the idea of the readers because they worked across different law enforcement organizations.
Garza said the cameras were a decent compromise since the city does not have the infrastructure to do full surveillance.
“Flock is appropriate at Central Park; it’s an unobtrusive, valuable law enforcement tool,” Jones said.
