By Matt Simonette

Staff writer

The Northalsted Area Merchants Association last week said it would install cameras along Halsted Street as extra security precautions on corners seeing a high volume of pedestrian traffic.

The cameras, according to Jay Lyon, executive director of NAMA, are not all installed yet, but would be operating “as soon as possible” at the corners of Halsted and Belmont, Halsted and Aldine, Halsted and Roscoe and Halsted and Cornelia.

“This is a program that was asked for by some of the businesses along Halsted,” Lyon said, adding that the cameras are not in response to any specific crimes or incidents that have taken place on the street in recent months.

“I don’t know if it’s been for crimes per se,” said Lyon. “Individual businesses have had concerns over large crowds that have gathered in those locations.”

Since last year, a number of meetings in the area have addressed tensions between business owners and GLBT youth who visit Lakeview.

Lyon said the cameras are not meant to deter any particular age group from visiting the street.

“That’s certainly not the goal of this at all,” he said, adding that some youths may be in the neighborhood to access services intended for them.

“The Center on Halsted has provided excellent services to these youth,” he said. “We’re not trying to do anything that would dissuade them from availing themselves of the Center.”

The locations of the cameras, according to Lyon, “were chosen in concert with the police department.” He added that the camera footage would be recorded on DVRs in NAMA’s office.

Lyon said the footage would not be saved in perpetuity, nor would officials be actively watching the monitors. Rather, the point of the cameras, he said, would be to have footage on hand should an incident occur and in case police request it.

Lyon also said the footage could potentially be useful in trying to ascertain demographic information about North Halsted’s customer base.

“We’ll know when street traffic is the most heavy,” he added. “This has some implications for our commercial development.”

NAMA is hoping to have a CPD blue-light camera installed somewhere along Halsted in the near future.

“Our understanding is that there is one under request,” Lyon said.

Bennett Lawson, of Ald. Tom Tunney’s (44th) office, said that the ward does indeed have a request in for a blue light on Halsted, in a location that has yet to be determined.

“It will go wherever the police determine it is most effective,” Lawson said. “We’re hearing more and more about late-night noise, people blocking sidewalks and other quality of life issues. Fortunately Halsted is not a very violent area, but it’s not without incidents.”

Lawson said Tunney fully stands behind NAMA’s decision to install the cameras. Tunney’s request for the blue-light camera, he added, would likely be addressed by the City later in the year.

Lawson also said that privacy concerns some people might have—for example, closeted gay men visiting the bars—might be misplaced because “in a public way, there is no privacy.” Pedestrians in Chicago are already photographed and filmed in numerous locations, he said.

He added that at a meeting last year over a similar issue—cameras placed at Belmont and Broadway—many gay constituents said that their concerns over security outweighed their concern over the implications for privacy.

“They said, ‘Those days (of bar raids) are over,’” Lawson said.

Sgt. Alex Silva of CPD agreed that pedestrians should expect that they are subjects of surveillance cameras whenever they are on the streets.

“If you’re on the street, you don’t have an expectation of privacy,” Silva said, citing numerous types of businesses, such as banks and late-night bars, that already have cameras. He added, however, “The cameras (on Halsted) are not for snooping. They’re for keeping troublemakers away.”

Silva differentiated between the effect of a blue-light camera and the smaller units NAMA plans on installing. Blue lights, he said, usually signify an area where violent crimes have taken place and are likely to happen again.

“The message with the smaller cameras is that people are watching you, and that the troublemakers, whether they are young or old, are not welcome,” Silva added.

Lyon acknowledged that some Halsted patrons might have privacy concerns, but, in most cases, the footage “wouldn’t even be seen. We’re not out there to be Big Brother.”

“We want to keep everybody safe on Halsted Street at all times, whether they’re patrons, visitors to the Center or residents,” Lyon said.