Richmond considers cameras By Katherine Tam Contra Costa Times February 9, 2008 Richmond city officials might add video surveillance cameras to the list of improvements they would be willing to help small-business owners fund. "Small businesses have been targets of violent crime and chronic graffiti all around the city," said Councilwoman Ludmyrna Lopez, who co-sponsored the proposal with Councilman Harpreet Sandhu. "We need to look at creative solutions." Officials are installing surveillance cameras in troubled neighborhoods to help reduce crime, illegal dumping and trespassing. The cameras, at a cost of $2 million, are expected to be working in March. The security cameras being studied would be inside or immediately outside small businesses. Merchants in the redevelopment area, which includes the Macdonald Avenue and 23rd Street corridors, would be eligible for the Facade Improvement and Revolving Loan programs. Small-business owners who invest at least $5,000 can seek city loans of as much as $20,000 for such improvements as painted facades, fixed windows and replaced signs. Merchants repay the money, but the loan is forgiven if the business keeps operating for five years. Adolfo Porras owns a business on 23rd Street and supports the proposal. "We get up early and we go home late to take care of family," Porras said. "Every time we get out of our business, we're afraid we're going to get mugged or robbed. I think this is a really good program and I'm excited that it will help us a lot to be safer and more happy working in our places." Porras' business is across the street from the Sahib Indian Restaurant, where owners Ravinder and Paramjit Kalsi were shot to death in December. Police have reviewed video from a surveillance camera in the area, but their investigation has not led to an arrest. The City Council agreed unanimously Tuesday to study the program. That's a contrast from the 1990s, when Councilman Jim Rogers said he was "laughed at and reviled" when he broached the idea. In neighboring El Cerrito, a new law requires certain types of businesses to cooperate with police by installing video surveillance. The city offers to pay for half the cost, and merchants would not have to repay a loan as long as they maintain the equipment and get it certified each year. That law passed in October, and merchants have until fall to comply. Pressure for the El Cerrito cameras escalated after multiple robberies, including one at the Red Onion restaurant on San Pablo Avenue in which intruders shot and killed one of the owners. Reach Katherine Tam at 510-262-2787 or ktam@bayareanewsgroup.com Copyright 1999-2008, California Coastal Coalition Phone: (760) 944-3564