City Weighs Need For Video Surveillance

The Palm Desert Public Safety Commission voted on Wednesday to assemble a committee to weigh whether the city needs video surveillance as part of its crime prevention strategy.

In a 4-0 decision, commissioners voted to form the committee and prepare a report by December with recommendations. The city hopes to include members of the business community and local residents in the committee.

Lt. Andrew Shouse of the Palm Desert Police Department said there is a need in the city for the cameras.

“These cameras are not going to prevent violent crime from occurring. Hopefully it deters it,” Shouse said.

Gary Rosenblum, the city’s risk manager, prepared a report in advance of the meeting, laying out possible courses for the city to take.

“It was to first provide the background information necessary so that the commission would be able to assess the broader scheme of video surveillance anywhere in the city, not just on El Paseo,’’ Rosenblum said.

He said the main issue he learned from the city of Beverly Hills is how to store images from the surveillance cameras.

“Data has to be available for almost a year for evidentiary reasons,” he said. “The cost of doing that is huge for them (Beverly Hills).”

The proposal came up in the wake of $42,000 in vandalism to in north Palm Desert, and the and of several businesses along El Paseo.