Crime in Chinatown has always been an issue but residents say its been getting worse. The Chinatown neighborhood board suggests hiring someone to watch the security cameras 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“Last week I was told that there were like 5 broken windows,” said Chu Lan Shubert-Kwock, Downtown and Chinatown neighborhood board chair.
“It’s sad because businesses should not have to suffer this kind of loss and disruption and its just meaningless, this kind of vandalism. It’s not the first time.”
There are cameras monitoring the area, but some of them don’t work. Footage isn’t always recorded and they’re not always monitored.
The neighborhood board says hiring someone to watch could improve safety.
They’ve tried it before with volunteers, but it didn’t work. So they’re asking lawmakers for funding for a full time position.
“People of authority watching, they can communicate with police on patrol, they can communicate with police in the squad cars,” said Shubert-Kwock.
“We should fund this kind of thing because we have so many years of catch-up and bandaging. We can’t do that anymore because the crime has become more and more violent.”
Council member Carol Fukunaga who represents the area says she believes the cameras are not the key to cutting back crime in the area.
Instead, she says she and other council members are working to increase the police force and presence in the area.
