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Tuscaloosa News – Jon Howell

Hello, welcome to my first post.

I have something to say about Jon Howell, who happens to be the traffic systems manager for Tuscaloosa DOT.

The article is - http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20090524/NEWS/905239920/1007?Title=Cameras-could-be-in-use-by-summer

First of all, I don’t mind traffic cameras, and camera’s in high crime areas or places where a lot of people congregate, like the Strip on University Blvd.

However, my problem is with this quote from Jon Howell:

Howell says the cameras will definitely be useful, citing a rape that occurred on Reed Street. There are only two outlets for Reed Street. Cameras at its intersection with University Boulevard and its intersection with Caplewood Drive would have been valuable.

‘They would have had that suspect on video,’ Howell said.

For those who are unfamiliar with Reed Street, it is a road connecting to University Blvd, commonly known as where the Strip ends, as the next few blocks on University Blvd are mainly residential communities and houses. Reed Street is all apartment complexes for its entirety (from University Blvd to Caplewood Drive)

The incident Jon Howell referred to was a rape of a young woman along this street. He believes just 2 cameras would have been able to spot and identify the rapist of this woman. While I am not saying this would not, I believe it is an injustice that he can make such statements, knowing this is not the case.

As anyone can clearly see, and hopefully a traffic systems manager at Tuscaloosa’s Department of Transportation can see, University Blvd and Caplewood Drive are not the only 2 exits for a vehicle off of Reed Street. There are a plethora of apartment complexes that one could drive through. If the rapist lived in one of these complexes, the camera would not be able to witness the rapist at University or Caplewood, not to mention having to sort through the thousands of people and cars that go down this street on a Friday and Saturday in a college town like Tuscaloosa, so close to the bars. Many people walk from their complexes to and from the Strip each night, to identify the one who will later decide to rape a girl, would be the exception, not the rule (if he had stalked her from the time she walked off of the Strip, if that is what she was doing before the attack occured.)

To recap my points

• Reed Street is entirely residential, to have cameras on each end of this street, would mean there should be cameras on each end of Caplewood Drive, Grace Street, Riverside Drive, Thomas Circle, 15th Avenue, 6th Street, and an almost infinite more number of streets in the Tuscaloosa area, at which point the systems would be infeasible due to a huge cost associated with the number of cameras and video tapes required for each.
• Jon Howell’s comment was an assertive statement saying that these 2 cameras could have identified the rapist, when in actuality, there would be little chance that you would even see the rapist from the video of these 2 cameras.
• Howell’s statements seemed to mention Reed Street like a tunnel with only 2 defined exits, while true as far as transportation maps are concerned, there are many apartment complexes with entrances and exits on both Reed Street and Grace Street, so if the rapist was driving, it was not sure that he would enter and exit Reed Street from either University or Caplewood.
• There is a chance that the rapist walked to Reed Street, opening up many more different ways for the rapist to enter and exit Reed Street.
• Also, if it was night time when the rape occurred (not sure about this exact incident, but for future crime prevention) the cameras would not be able to get as clear as a picture, especially if the suspect knew cameras were there and had a hat, hoodie, etc. to prevent the cameras from obtaining a clear picture of him.

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