Former Shreveport Mayor’s Security Plan a Complete Waste of Money

Over the past few years we have heard a lot of talk about getting more cameras in high crime neighborhoods in Shreveport. Those cameras were being tied in to the Real Time Crime Center to give police more help on the ground when crimes happen.

But this latest debacle at city hall is yet another example of folks "stubbing their toes".

Mayor Tom Arceneaux says the cameras the city purchased with money from the American Rescue Plan "do not meet the federal guidelines for that use and so we have to get those down and order new cameras. KEEL News asked Mayor Arceneaux what those cameras can be used for and he told us

I don't think they are useful for anything because they are capable of being hacked into. The Mayor added "we probably eat em or sell em for scrap. We're looking at what our alternatives are.

Mayor Arceneaux says it's primarily a security issue. He says "the cameras we purchased didn't meet the standards and someone could have gotten the information that was being recorded and done something dastardly with it."

More than $350 billion dollars in American Rescue Fund money was sent to local and state governments to "support their response to and recovery from the COVID-19 public health emergency."

Former Mayor Adrian Perkins said last year "the Real Time Crime Center is continuing its mission of keeping our city safe with the addition of new cameras at AC Steere Park. These cameras are just one part of the ongoing efforts of the RTCC."

Shreveport purchased 90 of these pole cameras and installed some on Texas Street downtown, some at Ford Park and some at AC Steere Park. But Mayor Arceneaux says those cameras will now have to come down.

Here Is the Criteria the Feds Released About Use of ARP Money:

• Replace lost public sector revenue, using this funding to provide government services up to the amount of revenue lost due to the pandemic
• Respond to the far-reaching public health and negative economic impacts of the pandemic, by supporting the health of communities, and helping households, small businesses, impacted industries, nonprofits, and the public sector recover from economic impacts
• Provide premium pay for essential workers, offering additional support to those who have and will bear the greatest health risks because of their service in critical sectors
• Invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure, making necessary investments to improve access to clean drinking water, to support vital wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, and to expand affordable access to broadband internet

Click here to see the detailed rules for using this federal money.

Mayor Arceneaux says he is meeting with vendors in an effort to buy cameras that will be secure, but no decisions have been made about how much the city could spend on new cameras.