Boone Liberty Coalition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
John Schultz
Boone Liberty Coalition
10900 S. Hardwick Lane
Columbia, MO 65201
E-mail: info@booneliberty.org
Phone: (573) 777-1950

Boone Liberty Coalition expresses opposition to downtown surveillance cameras, aka Proposition 1

Columbia, MO - March 17, 2010 - The Boone Liberty Coalition urges Columbia citizens to vote NO on Proposition 1 on April 6th. While the proposed ordinance is offered as a well-intentioned measure to increase public safety, Proposition 1 will not measurably reduce crime in Columbia and will essentially provide a government subsidy to downtown businesses by paying for camera systems that those private parties should purchase with their own funds.

The Boone Liberty Coalition believes there are four main reasons for voters to not approve Proposition 1:

• There is no evidence that installing cameras will reduce crime. Information presented at the December 7th, 2009 council meeting where the petition behind Proposition 1 was sent to the voters was not conclusive in showing that a large crime reduction would occur if the voters approve Proposition 1 and the council approves a new contract with a camera vendor. Banks and convenience stores across the country are still robbed even though the perpetrators know they are being videotaped. Downtown Columbia would have to be blanketed in scores of cameras to cover an appreciable amount of the area. The proliferation of such cameras would make downtown seem like a much less inviting location than the small percentage of crime that does occur in the area.
• Any money spent on downtown surveillance cameras must necessarily cause something else to be cut from the city’s budget. In these difficult financial times, the city should not be subsidizing downtown businesses by installing a camera system that may not be effective. Additionally, results from the month-long trial of a single camera installation still need to be properly evaluated and communicated to the citizens of Columbia.
• Video captured by the cameras would be subject to Missouri Sunshine Law requests from the public, needlessly wasting the time of city staff.
• Downtown Columbia is not as unsafe as some people claim. Councilwoman Laura Nauser presented numbers at the December 7th, 2009 council meeting that showed only 16% of crime occurred in Beat 00, which encompasses a larger swath of Columbia than just downtown, and that only 9% of assaults occurred in that beat. Additionally, violent crime in Columbia has declined from the numbers reported in 2007.

The Boone Liberty Coalition believes that business owners should follow the example of downtown businessman John Ott. A board member of the Columbia Special Business District, he purchased his own cameras to put in the alley behind Puckett’s, as documented in the minutes from that group’s April 8th, 2008 meeting. If there is concern among the downtown business community that the area is unsafe or that potential customers share that belief, they can proactively address that concern by installing private security cameras to protect their property and their customers.

The mission of the Boone Liberty Coalition is to be an advocate for personal liberty, economic freedom, and property rights in Boone County. We believe that limited government, personal property rights, and free choice are the best vehicles to promote diversity, economic well-being, personal responsibility, and peace.

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