52 Lafayette Police Cameras Target At-Risk Neighborhoods

LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — The Lafayette Police Department plans to install up to 52 cameras in certain neighborhoods, primarily in City-Parish Council Districts 3 and 4 represented by Brandon Shelvin and Kenneth Boudreaux.

Police Chief Jim Craft tells The Advertiser the councilmen helped police identify locations for the cameras. He says crime data also was used.

Using laptop computers in patrol cars, Craft says police responding to a scene of a crime can pull up video from cameras in that neighborhood or look at the scene live.

Cpl. Paul Mouton says the Neighborhood Camera Project is expected to cost about $700,000.

Craft says some of the money will be used to renovate a room in the police department headquarters where computer servers that back up the camera's footage will be housed.