Ames City Council votes unanimously to move forward with Campustown security cameras

After nearly a decade of discussions, the Ames City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to move forward with installing Campustown security cameras. 

The council voted to move forward with the installation of Campustown cameras, to house the recordings in the city’s network and to approve the policy drafted by the Ames Police Department. 

The cameras were discussed at a December council meeting, but the council tabled the issue in order to gather more public input. 

The cameras would cost a total of $37,286; the installation of fiber cabling would run an additional $15,751, and the installation of the cameras and other storage equipment would cost another $21,525.

Councilmember David Martin asked Intermin Ames Police Chief Geoff Huff to discuss how the public would be able to obtain video not involved in a police investigation.

“We have a reason to install a video camera system to promote public safety, but it does have the side effect of sort of being everyone’s camera. People can request some of the footage, and they have every right to,” Martin said.

Huff said every request for public information, such as the security camera footage, goes through a review process, using the Freedom of Information Act. Huff said requests for security camera videos in other parts of the city are very rare. 

“In some cases, we may find that a record is confidential and we can’t release it. Juvenile information would be an example of that,” Huff said. “Generally speaking, when we get requests that are not related to a criminal investigation, that information could be released.” 

City council ex-officio Trevor Poundstone said the Iowa State Student Government remains in support of the project. Poundstone, an Iowa State student who serves as a liaison between the student government and the city, made his city council debut Tuesday. 

“I think it’s a really cool project and student government will continue to be in support of this in the future,” Poundstone said. 

American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa Communications Director Veronica Lorson Fowler emailed a written statement in opposition to the current policy. Public comment was not open for this item Tuesday night, though it had been at past meetings.

The ACLU statement calls for police to obtain a warrant before viewing the recordings and the Ames Police Department be open about the technological capabilities of the cameras. 

“It is critical to note that all people are being watched in this scenario. As we have said publicly and often, we have deep concerns about cities simply watching people ‘just because.’ The chilling effect on ordinary people’s lives and their exercise of fundamental rights is real,” the statement says.

The system is not capable of tracking, facial recognition or license plate reading, according to city documents.

Martin moved to direct staff to review the security camera system in a year, noting how many videos were released pursuant to open records requests. The motion passed unanimously. 

Danielle Gehr is a politics and government reporter for the Ames Tribune. She can be reached by email at dgehr@gannett.com, phone at (515) 663-6925 or on Twitter at @Dani_Gehr.