Federal Hill residents agree on this: They're tired of a recent spate of petty crimes, holdups and burglaries. They're a bit more divided about the new police camera looming over William and East Montgomery streets, put there to help catch the miscreants.
Federal Hill's first surveillance camera is a welcome crime deterrent to some and an irritating eyesore to others.
"It's an affront to the people who live here," said Judi Wallace, who has lived a few doors from the intersection for 21 years. "It's like Big Brother watching 24 hours a day."
Across the street, Mark Swimmer, another 21-year resident, challenged the notion that wary neighbors would no longer be comfortable sipping wine on their front steps.
"I don't buy it," he said. "You think they put these cameras in to catch chardonnay drinkers?"
For now, the Federal Hill Neighborhood Association is not taking sides. "At this point I don't have a really good feel for what the majority of the residents in that area want," said association President Paul Quinn. "It came as a surprise and it was not requested through us, which is OK."
The Federal Hill camera is one of about 80 portable surveillance units - known as "podds" - in the city's 300-camera system, said police spokesman Matt Jablow. He said it was installed in response to a recent rash of thefts from cars parked in the area.
"That's the beauty of these podds. We can respond to certain spikes in crime quickly, and that's what we did here," he said.
Jablow said police have noted a 15 percent drop in violent crime in Baltimore areas with cameras.
But the benefits come at a price even supporters acknowledge: the perceived stigma that a police surveillance camera and its flashing blue light means a neighborhood is a high-crime area. Opponents said that fear could drive people away and depress property values in a historic neighborhood with lively nightlife, cobblestone streets and restaurants with outdoor seating, and where rowhouses typically sell for $500,000 and up.
The new camera has not been programmed to flash its blue warning light because police said that it is there as part of an investigation targeting a specific crime but that it is recording.
Swimmer, 42, said residents along William and Montgomery streets were abuzz over the weekend with discussion of the camera, which hangs over the southwest corner of the intersection and was installed on Thursday. He said he couldn't understand why people think the cameras make the neighborhood look bad.
