Surveillance cameras help crime in NN

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) - Surveillance cameras in businesses or on the streets are helping Newport News Police solve crimes and the chief wants to see more.

Chief James Fox said police can’t be everywhere all the time, so the next best thing is having a camera capture crime.

After surveillance footage aired on television of a robbery, Newport News Police were able to make an arrest when tips came in about the suspect. Cameras installed by the police department along the streets have actually caught crimes in progress and officers were able to make arrests using footage as evidence.

Residents say cameras can’t replace officers.

“It’s just there for show and tell to scare people,” resident Alyshia Claiborne told WAVY.com. “You’re not going to scare people because you’re putting up cameras. It’s not going to scare people at all because they wouldn’t be out here shooting at two in the morning.”

Fox says its his vision for the future.

“It’s one of my goals to have cameras from one end of the City to another in our hot spots,” he said. Areas where crime is concentrated. “We’ve got about 20 plus of our own cameras and we do all the installing. We have the capability of tying it into our camera system in the City.”

He says they can also tie into cameras at schools, parks and private businesses when given permission.