Vandalism

Photo Courtesy of The Leader Herald

The Problem:

A rash of vandalism and “tagging” (spray painting of gang or gang-like symbols) on buildings has been plaguing Gloversville for years, but has recently intensified.  Churches, businesses and apartment buildings are being routinely defaced.  Over the last few years, vandalism has also been increasing.  While the problem is city-wide, the “citizens” responsible for doing this have become quite brazen by committing multiple acts of vandalism right on the four corners.  Both The Leader Herald and the Chamber of Commerce have received, between them, at least four known acts of destructive vandalism, with the most recent act being the overturned planters in front of the chamber.

The Reaction:

Local merchants and business organizations are quite fed up with this ‘in-your-face’ criminal behavior and want it stopped.  From their perspective, it has appeared as if such crimes are occurring right under the noses of the Police Department given that the four corners is supposed to be under surveillance by security cameras.

Efforts by Chamber of Commerce President Wally Hart and other merchants to get answers have been frustrated repeatedly with either non-answers from local officials, or, as in the case of the latest incident, no answer at all from the mayor after weeks of waiting.  Since the latest August 24th incident the city has yet to formally provide the chamber with information on what the investigation has found.  Nor has there been any sort of commiseration by the mayor, fact finding on the part of council members, or any sign that local government even cares  that one of its two primary sources of income is under increasing assault.  The lack of apparent concern by city officials has only intensified the bad feeling brewing between local government and business leaders at a time when Gloversville’s success depends strongly on creating as business-friendly an environment as possible.

An Effective Reaction Should Include Research and Process Improvement:It is hard for me to understand why the mayor and council are avoiding dealing with this issue.   The problem is not complex.  The city is under seige by hoodlums.  Those hoodlums have the potential to influence the lives and income of many of our fellow citizens, as well as reduce one of the two largest sources of municipal revenue.  Solving this problem means potentially improving the city’s image (not to mention the lives and livelihoods of local merchants).  Not solving it virtually ensures the city’s image continues to be tarnished, businesses close up shop or move, and municipal revenue will continue to fall.

While there may be many avenues for improvement, I would like to limit my discussion to one of the easiest ways the city has available to fight crime.

Cameras.

In 2005, the city purchased a very basic but expandable camera detection system which is controlled by the Gloversville Police Department.  The goal in purchasing the system was to increase the ability to detect and deter criminals.  Due to lack of funding, the system, which resides on a shelf in a closet, has remained essentially unchanged for four years.  Unlike the capabilities people may have witnessed on various police shows on TV, our system is limited in every way.

Here are the particulars on what we are currently operating with:

–Training:The Police Department’s system was initially purchased in early 2005 with grant funding.  Software updates that have occurred since have been with whatever money the department could piece together.  Training has been limited to in-house knowledge since no funding exists.  No one other than Captain Sira has ever been formally trained.

–Operation:

The six installed cameras are all manually controlled.  While they can be moved, that movement has to be done deliberately by an officer.  Once moved, the camera is stationary until the next time it is manually adjusted.  While stationary, it provides a continual stream of video to the hard drive of the controlling computer limited to the angle of its position.

–Limitations :

What this means to frustrated merchants is that a camera, such as the one on the four corners, could often be positioned in one direction while nefarious demon spawn commit acts of vandalism in a different direction.  Because of their limitations as a real time crime prevention tool, their use is largely limited to a supporting role.

If day time operations regularly leave the cameras in a supporting role, night time operations with the cameras currently installed are almost beyond the systems capability.  Captain Sira showed me a typical recording of North Main Street during the day and at night. While it was possible to read licence plates and observe drivers in their cars or pedestrians during the day, the night shot provided no usable information.  The decorative street lights downtown throw far too little light for the current cameras to image fine detail – especially on an overcast or rainy night.

It would seem the capabilities of the current system are not quite up to the expectations we have all had since it was purchased and installed in 2005.  It is this discrepancy between expectation and reality that has the business class angry and the political class running for cover.Solutions Exist:

But there’s no reason for any of the anger and frustration.  If both sides can take a proactive approach, we can create a system that functions according to the desires of all parties involved (and my dead pan gaze is aimed more at the city than our merchants when I say that).

For example, the current system, while possessing a very small number of cameras with limited night time capability,  is expandable.  Cameras with infrared optics and automatic swiveling capability can be purchased.  Blind spots could be  eliminated by adding multiple opposing cameras at various locations.  Wireless cameras could be hidden in remote locations where frequent vandalism occurs.

Captain Sira reminded me that when the 2004-2007 council accepted the monies for this system one of the stipulations was that local merchants could, if they wanted, purchase the additional camera equipment that could help improve coverage.  If the proper equipment were purchased, it would allow the system to reach beyond the center of town.  City electrician Jim Walsh has already informed me the basic infrastructure to support a wireless system is in place downtown.

The city needs to disseminate knowledge of the expansion capability of this program.  While a few people I talked to were vaguely aware of the possibility, many were not after so many years.  Somehow, Gloversville’s leadership needs to use existing media outlets to share this information consistently.

Making the Choice to Act:

For its part, the City of Gloversville cannot hide behind lack of funds as an excuse for avoiding working with local merchants on this problem. The infrastructure exists and it has been proven that grant money exists.  Local government needs to understand intimately that anything that decreases the desire for business to remain in Gloversville is BAD.  Anything that increases business, and consumer, safety, comfort, profitability and access is GOOD.  Generally speaking, actions taken by government that work toward the benefit of business ultimately pay big dividends for property owners making everyone happy.