Cedar Rapids police propose change to security camera ordinance

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Cedar Rapids Police Department is proposing an amendment to the city code which would require more businesses to have surveillance cameras.

Under the proposed amendment to Chapter 60A of the Municipal Code, businesses selling petroleum products, hotels and motels, banks, credit unions, carryout food establishments, coin dealers, firearms dealers, mobile communications retailers, pawn brokers, pharmacies and scrap metal dealers would be required to install surveillance camera systems. The amendment would update the 12-year-old code section, which previously only required cameras for what essentially amounts to gas stations, hotels and motels, businesses that normally only have one employee working at a time and those that are open between the hours of 5 p.m. and 5 a.m.

The amendment would also set standards for image quality in surveillance cameras, though a news release from the city did not outline what that would mean for businesses.

Cedar Rapids Lt. Tony Robinson said the police department receives hundreds of surveillance videos each year, but some of them are not of high enough quality to aid in an investigation.

'The department has found that many of these videos are useless for evidentiary purposes due to inefficiencies in camera placement, equipment and maintenance,” Robinson said in an email to The Gazette. 'It is anticipated that a set of standards will help produce a better product that can be used to solve and prosecute a crime.”

Robinson said the businesses listed in the proposal were selected because of their potential to be targets of violent crime. Many of these businesses already have security camera systems in place. Robinson said he doesn't have the exact number, but estimates that more than half of the potentially affected businesses already use surveillance systems.

Security camera systems will cost as little as $500, police said.

City public safety spokesman Greg Buelow said the proposal was presented to the city council's public safety committee back in April. Buelow said the committee appeared supportive and wanted to make sure the police department reached out to business owners. Buelow said the police department sent letters to as many business as they could find in their databases.

'We've talked to some of the owners already,” he said. 'A lot of them have the technology already and they feel it's been a deterrent.”

While businesses that refuse to comply with the amended ordinance would be subject to a civil fine, Buelow said the city will emphasize compliance over punitive action. Businesses will be given a year from the adoption of the amendment to have security cameras in place. Violators will be given an additional month after an infraction to prove they have a security system in place.

The police department will host two information sessions at the department's community room to give business owners a chance to voice their concerns or ask questions. Those sessions will take place at 7 p.m. Oct. 7 and Oct. 28.