PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) — What started as 16 cameras at the Riker Building in downtown Pontiac has turned into a surveillance system that is now keeping a watchful eye on the downtown area.
“We’re doing it because we know the only way to fill this with the tenants that we need to fill this with is to have the perception of safety and it’s worked,” said the owner of the Riker Building, Tim Sheppard.
When Sheppard bought the building three years ago, he saw the need to change the conversation on crime in downtown Pontiac. He installed cameras and teamed up with Public Safety Officer Brian Carr.
Sheppard and Officer Carr tell 7 Action News other businesses saw that the cameras were working, getting rid of problems like loitering. So, they decided to team up to keep installing cameras throughout downtown, and now, there are 150 cameras in downtown Pontiac at 13 different businesses.
This surveillance system is all privately funded, although the businesses do pay for the cameras and a monitoring fee. The Oakland County Sheriffs Office is not involved with the project, although Officer Carr says they work together when need be.
“They're so happy to have it downtown, and they're so happy to have the system up and running and everybody can see that it is making an impact on the downtown,” said Officer Carr.
The project has just received a $10,000 grant from Flagstar, which will be used to expand the surveillance center located in the basement of the Riker Building. There are also plans to install an additional 100 cameras by the end of this year, bringing the total to 250 cameras watching downtown Pontiac.
“If you want to come here and do bad things, it’s a really bad city to do that in,” said Sheppard.
