OTTUMWA — Police have seen a reduction in crime after video cameras were installed downtown one year ago.

The Ottumwa Police Department now has a total of 31 cameras throughout the city, following the installation of two new cameras at Ottumwa High School and one at South Ottumwa Savings Bank on Church Street, as well as three cameras on the law center itself.

The three new cameras were purchased by the school district and the bank, said Lt. Mickey Hucks, who added those entities will also absorb all related costs.

The bank’s camera caught footage of a suspect fleeing the bank on Aug. 4 during a robbery, which backed up witness statements.

“We’re always finding new ways to use the cameras,” Hucks said. “We get pretty creative on our angles. We can see further than we thought in some cases.”

Not only does dispatch have access to the video feeds, other eyes always have access. Hucks, Sgt. Chad Farrington, Lt. Tom McAndrews and Police Chief Jim Clark all have video feeds of each camera running in their offices at all times.

As the department continues to tweak the system, a few cameras have been moved. There is now one at U.S. Highway 34 and Wapello Street, and another was moved to the roundabout, which can also see the intersection of U.S. Highway 34 and Iowa Avenue.

“It was a gap we had that we would’ve liked to have cameras there originally,” Hucks said. “It helps us see movement and get a description of where a vehicle is going, as well as traffic accidents.”

The cameras have helped the department on numerous occasions, Hucks said, and they are constantly fine-tuning locations and angles to do the best job possible.

The next mission is to install one of the department’s spare cameras at North Court Street and Iowa Highway 149 to monitor the area, which includes Hy-Vee, Kum & Go and other restaurants and businesses, as well as heavy traffic.

With the new 250-foot communications tower in the works, it will give the department enough height to be able to get a signal to the camera. Hucks said the department hopes to get the camera installed in January or February.

The cameras have helped deter crime from downtown, both Hucks and Clark said, and they haven’t heard much, if any, backlash from those originally concerned that the cameras were an invasion of privacy.

“I think the public knows the cameras are there,” Hucks said. “It deters simply by them seeing the domes. It deters crime from that area. They’ll move on. It helps us focus our patrol on areas that don’t have cameras.”

Another upcoming project is to install signs that alert the public that cameras are present.

“If people are going to break into cars and they see that, then they’re either not going to do it or they’re going to go somewhere else,” Hucks said.

Clark said officers have cited smokers countless times downtown, especially underage smokers at the bus shelter.

“If we do the small stuff, the big stuff goes away,” Hucks said.

There have been two complaints filed to the state about smoking on city property, which means the city would be fined if action is taken. Clark said the state could try to allege the city isn’t doing anything to stop smoking downtown.

“But we’re not letting them smoke down there,” Clark said. “Did we get a $375,000 grant to stop people from smoking? No, but it does help with citations and it’s our defense against the state.”



Cameras capture city of Ottumwa

This summer, the cameras captured car accidents at Wapello and Fourth Streets and at U.S. Highway 34 and North Quincy Avenue, both showing cars turning in front of oncoming traffic and getting slammed.

This footage can come in handy in the event that insurance companies request it from the department, Hucks said.

While camera footage has come in handy in traffic accidents, Hucks said they’re for observation, not traffic enforcement such as speeding.

The camera’s zoom capabilities have also proved helpful in identifying persons of interest.

This July, the department received several calls from the public about a person in distress near Ottumwa High School. In the video, officers were able to zoom in on a woman who officers recognized was tweaking after a dose of methamphetamine.

Since she wasn’t a harm to herself or anyone else and wasn’t causing any trouble, officers could do nothing but a welfare check, Hucks said.

Also in July, Hucks was checking the cameras from home before heading to bed, something he said he does every night just to make sure everything is working properly.

He noticed a young boy walking across the top of the parking ramp with no shirt on and shoes too big for his feet. The boy found a corner and lay down, Hucks said. Officers responded and eventually found the boy hiding under a car.

In February, police examined camera footage to figure out who had burglarized Appanoose Rapids Brewing Company. The suspect, identified as Bruce Darnell Pollard, was also later charged with the robbery of Sonic and the murder of Cinema X manager Kenneth McDaniel.

Clark said officers will use video as evidence no matter what it shows, even if the city is at fault, which was the case outside City Hall this year when the windows were smashed out of someone’s car. After reviewing video, officers saw that it wasn’t a burglary, as assumed, but a city truck driving past with equipment that struck the window.