CITY O.K.s CAMERAS TO HELP STOP DRUGS

Charleston City Council Tuesday approved in theory the use of surveillance
cameras to combat the drug trade, unanimously supporting a resolution that
would let neighborhood associations ask for the cameras.

Councilman Wendell Gilliard, who proposed the resolution, said the idea for
cameras came out of the drug conference he recently sponsored. Residents
are fed up with drugs and problems related to their use and sale, and
surveillance cameras could be an answer, he said. "We had better step up
and speak up when it comes to your community," he told council.

Charleston Police Chief Reuben Greenberg said cameras would be an excellent
tool but that they are expensive, so council would have to provide money.

"Where you have cameras, you lower the violence and crime in an area," he
said. "(Criminals) don't beat people up, they don't break into cars, they
don't even steal cars."

Council spent little time on the matter, but some in the audience raised
concerns.

Real estate agent Anthony Bryant pointed to the controversial video of an
apparent drug deal in front of City Councilman Kwadjo Campbell's East Side
apartment. He said Campbell was treated unfairly in a rush to judgment and
warned that appearances can be deceiving.

"People have individual privacy rights," Bryant said. "Let's be really
careful about what we do."

Greenberg pointed out that the city already uses cameras - on the Cooper
River bridges - and said the U.S. Supreme Court has held that there is no
right to privacy in public spaces.

"Americans feel they have an expectation of privacy in public. They don't,"
he said.

The cameras were not the only drug-or police-related topic at Tuesday's
meeting. Several West Side residents asked for more funds in the city's
2001 budget for police foot patrols.

The meeting represented the formal start to the city's budget process and
included time for public input on the budget. Only a few spoke, most asking
for funding for their particular organization or activity.

Council gets its first look at a proposed budget on Tuesday, Charleston
Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. said.

In other matters, council:

* Gave first reading to ordinances annexing several properties covering
22.3 acres on James Island into the city.

* Agreed to acquire several houses to be used for affordable housing.