Park cameras catch criminals

HOBBS, N.M. (KRQE) -For only $500,000, the City of Hobbs is beginning to monitor its most dangerous parks using high-tech cameras.

The idea started after a 2008 shooting in a city park.

“We do experience some public safety issues, vandalism, and ultimately we want to provide the good things in life to the citizens of our community through the open space park system,” Hobbs Parks and Recreation Superintendent Wade Whitehead said.

Five parks around the town have been equipped with cameras with the feed being sent back to the emergency communications dispatch center.

The cameras are both motion sensitive and some of them can even hear.

“So when a gunshot goes off it will actually zoom in to the location where the gunshot came from and actually plots it on Google Earth,” Hobbs Emergency Communications Supervisor Margaret Hathcox said.

Police believe it will deter criminals in two ways. The cameras can see a majority of the park and work at night, so they make it easy for officers to respond quickly. Police are also hoping word of mouth keeps crooks out of the park.

“It’s going to be an extremely helpful tool to officers,” Hathcox said. “But also the public because they know if something does happen that we’re monitoring the parks.”

While dispatchers were being trained on the system, the police were able to make an arrest after the cameras caught three teens smoking marijuana.

Also this past weekend two teens were arrested for indecent exposure after the cameras caught them.

Police said the system allows them to keep other parts of town safe too.

“This frees up our officers to concentrate on other areas of the city rather than the parks,” Hobbs Police Department Officer Mike Stone said.

So far, two parks are online, and the city says it will only be a few more weeks until the other three parks are up and running.

The program was originally allotted $1 million in the city’s budget, but cuts reduced the program in half.

“Ultimately we would like to be able to expand upon these cameras and put them in the rest of our park system,” Whitehead said.