Residents on the south side of Monroe who live and travel near Winnsboro Road and South Second St. are looking up towards the sky, but not at the clouds. They are looking at recently installed security cameras on several utility poles, and those cameras are a concern for some residents. This reporter, who frequents the southside on numerous occasions, and perhaps numerous other residents were not aware of the cameras until after they had already been installed. The cameras are installed on poles on Winnsboro Road by the traffic light at Wilson St., with one pole having three cameras on it and another one having a single camera on it. According to southside resident and community activist Verbon Muhammad, no one knew when the cameras were going to be installed. He said that he was told by Councilwoman (Dist. 3) Juanita Woods that the Monroe City Council voted to have the cameras installed, but news of that revelation was not met with open arms. The concern was that the community did not know beforehand about the camera installment, as there were allegedly no community meeting(s) held. Though Woods reportedly said that cameras were installed to catch criminal activity, some residents said that they should have been informed. Council President Carday Marshall (Dist. 4) said the cameras are there to monitor traffic flow, as that section of the southside has a high flow of traffic and is there for other purposes in the fight against crime. Marshall, in a text, said that with the cameras in place, law enforcement linked to a system can scan for tags/monitor for stolen vehicles. With that information, law enforcement can also be assisted in capturing pedophiles and sex offenders. Residential concerns also extend to whether other city areas have cameras installed on major streets with a high flow/volume of traffic, such as North 18th at Forsythe Ave. Some residents feel uneasy knowing that they are being watched, even though there are assurances that cameras such as those in their neighborhood will be installed in other areas of Ouachita Parish. A request was sent to Mayor Friday Ellis and MPD Chief Victor Zordan for comment, but there has been no response as of press time.

Dispatch

Cameras installed on corner of South Second St. & Winnsboro Rd.