Last week, the Kalamazoo City Commission delayed a vote on a proposed downtown surveillance program amid privacy concerns. The program would allow business owners to share their surveillance video feeds with law enforcement in real time. The Kalamazoo City Commission is expected to take the proposal back up when it meets June 20th.
Jessica Thompson, owner of Bee Joyful Shop on the Kalamazoo Mall, says that many of her fellow business owners are interested in the program, but have concerns.
“I think everybody right now seems to be pretty neutral,” said Thompson. “Nobody seems to be like, ‘Oh, no way.’ And then on the other side, no one's like, ‘Yes, let's go.’ It’s more like, ‘We need more info. I'm interested to see what this looks like’.”
"There's full countries that use CCTV, and it's fantastic," she added. "They use it to do good things with that. I do see the pros and cons of it, I just need more information about what's going on."
Jeffrey Neal, owner Terrapin Worldwide Imports a couple of doors down, said he's "on the fence."
"It seems a little Blade Runner-y to me," he said, referencing the dystopian 1982 science fiction movie.
Jill Nance co-owns the Mason Jar Plant Shop on South Street. She said while she sees how the program could benefit other businesses, she doubts that hers would join in.
“Maybe that could be helpful,” she said. “Some other stores have problems with flashers, and there's more theft at places, so I could see it being beneficial for them. But I don't think that's something that we would be into.”
Georgia Smith works at K'zoo in the Mitten, which sells Michigan-themed items on the Mall. "It would help but it also feels a little weird," she said. "Just knowing that like, it's not my boss, and it's a bunch of other people also watching. But it would also be helpful if anything were to happen."
The city says businesses could choose how and when to share their footage, and could opt out any time.
