HOUSTON — On Wednesday, Houston’s police chief publicly called on residents and business owners to install more cameras to help fight crime.
During a news conference at Houston Police Department headquarters announcing the campaign called Project Safe View, Chief Troy Finner called video footage a “force multiplier” for an understaffed police department.
“It’s game-changing, and we want to do more,” Finner said.
He challenged public and private entities to put up more cameras, like Ring doorbells, surveillance video, and automatic license plate readers (ALPRs).
“Hospitals, universities, shopping malls, stores, parks, sporting stadiums, homeowners associations, apartment complexes,” Finner said while noting private homeowners who can afford it are the key.
His request: at least 30 days’ storage.
The chief told reporters he’s been talking with the mayor and the business owners about this effort for months.
“This is to deter crime,” Finner said. “It’s not to spy on anybody.”
The ACLU of Texas has previously raised concerns about ALPRs, which take a still photo of every car that goes by, check the license plate against a national database of stolen or wanted vehicles, and then alert police if there’s a hit.
Officers can also run suspect license plates against the camera maker’s database.
“They can be appropriate and even beneficial tools to solve serious crimes, but without those safeguards, the tools can raise serious privacy and transparency concerns,” said Nick Hudson with ACLU of Texas during a February 2022 interview with KHOU on the topic.
In August 2022, Houston City Council unanimously approved more than 300 ALPRs citywide.
In 2024, Finner is hopeful for new cameras no matter who becomes the new mayor.
A spokesperson for Mayor Sylvester Turner said HPD would need to propose what they need to the mayor, who could then put it before City Council for a vote.
So far, no specific plans have been announced.