Reassurance that immigrants will not be persecuted.
That is the Spanish Action League’s concern about surveillance cameras in the Near West Side.
“We don’t want herds of police in the community just because somebody doesn’t have a work permit up to date,” Rita Paniagua, executive director of the Spanish Action League, said.
The Spanish Action League is a non-for-profit organization that serves the Latino community of Syracuse through advocacy, counseling, and educational programs.
Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner is planning to install nine surveillance cameras between South Geddes and Oswego streets as an effort to reduce crime in the neighborhood. The Syracuse Common Council approved the measure unanimously on Nov. 22.
In a press conference in early November, Mayor Miner said the city does not plan to share the video captured by the cameras with the federal government to use against suspected illegal immigrants.
But the Spanish Action League wants something more than a promise in a press conference, Paniagua, its director, said. “Words go into the air,” she said. The League wants the city to include a written statement in the legislation.
The cameras have also drawn some public protest. In early November, around 50 people protested the plan in front of City Hall, The Post-Standard reported.
Other organizations, like Syracuse United Neighbors support the cameras. The group collected more than 350 signatures in favor of the cameras. Also, a survey released by the Syracuse police showed that 96 percent of the Near West Side neighborhood supports the installation of surveillance cameras. The survey covered 210 residences.
But the Spanish Action League’s Paniagua is skeptical about the study. More than 200 families live in the neighborhood, she said. To be valid, she said, “They should have surveyed more families.”
The Near West Side has a population of 8,431.
Eric Perez, language services manager for the Spanish Action League, supports the installation of the cameras, even if the organization he works for does not. “The safety concerns far outweigh giving up the privacy that is going to be given up,” Perez said.
His one opposition to the plan is the focus that is being given to the Near West Side, Perez said. Other areas in Syracuse with high-crime levels, he said, are not also targeted for surveillance cameras.
But, Perez said, he thinks the measure will bring good to the Near West Side neighborhood. “It’s good to walk down the street,” Perez said, “and feel like you can walk down the street and everything is going to be ok.”
(Bianca Graulau is a junior majoring in broadcast and digital journalism and political science.)
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