Humboldt Neighborhood

Killingsworth Cameras

Sep 18, 2007

A series of cameras installed recently along a stretch of North Killingsworth Street have already paid dividends in terms of making the street safer. The cameras, which are in place along Killingsworth between North Commercial Street and Albina Avenue, have already helped Portland Police make two arrests, said Portland Community College Public Safety Officer Terry Langley.

?“The street officers are loving it,?” said Langley, who declined to reveal the number and locations of the cameras, citing the need to conceal such information from criminals. ?“They can step into our office and have a look at what?’s going on. They have a really useful tool at their disposal.?”

The section of Killingsworth Street in question has long been the haunt of street criminals, mostly drug dealers, Langley said. Having the area monitored electronically allows the cameras to do what the Portland Police cannot ?– namely, keep an eye on the area at all times. The cameras are monitored by PCC Public Safety staff, and Portland Police enjoy full access to them at all times.

The cameras?’ installation was the result of an effort by the Albina-Killingsworth Safe Neighborhood Commission, a group made up of representatives from PCC Cascade Campus, Jefferson High School, the Portland Police Bureau?’s Northeast Precinct, the Multnomah County Library, local businesses and community organizations, and the Humboldt and Piedmont Neighborhood Associations. The Commission hopes that the cameras will serve as a deterrent to criminal activity in the area.