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Surveillance cameras coming to Strip Kristen Trotter / The Crimson White | April 27 2006 Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox said he has a three-part plan to bolster security on the Strip, including adding surveillance cameras to the area, having the bars hire an off-duty police officer and possibly changing zoning laws so that no more bars can come to the area. The city plans to put three or four surveillance cameras on the Strip within six months to make the area safer after the two shootings there in February and March, Maddox said. The cameras, which Maddox said could cost between $50,000 and $100,000, will be connected to the police substation near the Strip. The cameras will act as a deterrent to crime the same way they do in convenience stores, Maddox said. He will discuss the plan with UA President Robert Witt, he said. "If people understand they are under surveillance, they are less likely to commit a crime," he said. A change in zoning of the Strip area would attempt to create more space between bars by prohibiting more bars from opening, though current bars would be allowed to continue operation, Maddox said. "The less alcohol establishments you have, you dissipate the problems," he said. "You create spacing, which decreases the problem." Limiting bars on the Strip is a long-term solution, he stressed. It could take 10 or 15 years for the effects of zoning changes to be seen, he said. The city is looking into whether such a plan is legally feasible, he said. Strip Merchants Association President Phil Weaver said the group is contemplating hiring an off-duty officer to patrol the Strip. The city is paying overtime wages for eight extra officers to patrol the Strip, but both Maddox and Tuscaloosa Police Chief Ken Swindle said that was a temporary measure until a permanent fix could be put in place. "We're still working on it right now to see how much money we can raise and how much money the merchants can afford to fill in the gaps," Weaver said. Maddox said extra officers will be kept on the Strip through the end of the semester and until the Strip Merchants Association provides its extra security, but he will leave the final decision about how long they would stay to Swindle. "We'll make that decision when the Merchants Association provides their security," he said. The city is working with the association on that issue, he said. Weaver said the cameras would be a deterrent to crime, and the more deterrents the better. "Anything like that's positive," he said. Swindle would not comment on the situation because Maddox asked him not to, he said. Maddox said he had asked Swindle to let him have the final say on Strip security measures. Many of the new security measures have happened in response to recent shootings in the Strip area on Feb. 28 and March 11. The two suspects in those shootings have been indicted by a grand jury. Lukendrick Harton is charged with one count of attempted murder, one count of first-degree assault and two counts of second-degree assault in the March 11 shooting outside the Venue 1215 on the Strip. His bond amount is set at $200,000. Jason Gardner is being charged with four counts of attempted murder and one count of shooting into an unoccupied vehicle. His total bond amounts to $430,000. Gardner is accused of shooting a man with a .22-caliber rifle while sitting in his van with his wife and children outside the Quick Grill stand on the Strip on Feb. 28. He survived the incident, which police think was set off by an altercation between the owner of Quick Grill and a man earlier that night. Swindle said it could be several months before their trials start. ---------------------------------------------------
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