Lafayette Gardens Gets an Eye in the Sky

Local residents and store owners this afternoon watched as police officers parked and then began erecting a new sky-cam at the corner of Classon and Lafayette Avenues, in front of the Lafayette Gardens "LG" Housing Projects.

The mobile camera, which runs on a generator and looks part-crane/part amusement park ride, is a 24-hour watch and recording center for crime activity.

Housing cops at the scene said they're installing it because of an escalation in the number of robberies and shootings in the area.

The device, which costs about $130,000, will be manned 24-hours a day by an officer onsight.

A few of the housing residents stood across the street watching with a mix of unfazed interest, as the officers practiced raising and lowering the device.

"We don't need that. What's that really doing?" said Danny, 31, an LG resident. "Well, my moms will be happy. But that right there, it's all for show; it's just so they can act like they're doing something."

Danny's friend, Ron, 43, also an LG resident, nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, what's it supposed to be watching when the projects are back that way?" said Ron, pointing behind the sky cam. "Who are they gonna see running? It's facing toward the street. They can't see the back doors."

"Besides, they just had one of them things set up over on Dekalb. And as soon as they took it down, they just went back to shooting. It didn't help."

"You know what the surveillance cameras are here for actually," said antoher woman who walked up while the two men were talking. "It's here to record people's faces, drug dealers and how much traffic is going in and out. I hope it helps."

The sky cam will remain at the corner for the next 30 days, and will be raised mostly during the evening hours, according to the officers.