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New legislation signed by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett earlier this week will require convenience stores in the city to have at least two high-definition surveillance cameras. The legislation, passed by the Common Council earlier this month, was requested by the Milwaukee Police Department and was intended to provide more reliable video evidence for criminal prosecutions.

Currently, convenience stores in the city are only required to install a single camera “which can produce reproducible digital color images.”

(photo illustration by Adrian Palomo)

Under the new ordinance, stores must have at least two “high resolution surveillance security cameras.” One camera must be pointed at the store’s entrance to capture people’s faces as they go in and out, and the other must be focused on the store’s cash register area.

Stores will also be required to store the video on recordable CDs or DVDs, thereby disqualifying the old videotape systems still used by some stores.

“In some cases where the cameras are older and haven’t been updated, the resolution is really not as good as it could be,” Ald. Michael Murphy, sponsor of the legislation, said during a March meeting of the council’s Public Safety Committee.

The ordinance specifically requires stores to use CD-Rs or DVD-Rs, discs that cannot be overwritten (as opposed to CD-RWs or DVD-RWs, which can be overwritten).

“We want to make sure that once it’s recorded, no change is made,” Katherine Wimbs, a forensic video examiner for MPD, said at the meeting.

Ald. Robert Puente, a former police captain and member of the Public Safety Committee, said he had worked on cases where stores had taped over footage needed for an investigation.

michael murphy

Currently, stores are only required to keep video recordings for 72 hours. Under the new rules, they would have to keep the discs for at least 30 days.

The ordinance is expected to require many stores to buy new cameras to replace old ones or to increase their total to at least two.

“Digital cameras now are substantially cheaper than they’ve ever been,” Murphy said. “It’s the cost of doing business … More eyes on the scene of where customers are doing business and on the employees provides greater safety and security.”

According to the alderman, the intent of the new camera rules is to catch suspects who are committing robberies or other violent crimes on camera, not shoplifters.

The Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. No one testified against the new camera requirements at either the Public Safety Committee hearing or at the April 12 Common Council meeting, when the legislation passed on an 11-1 vote with Ald. Jim Bohl voting no.

“This is government helping save us from ourselves,” he said prior to the vote. “There’s an imposition to business owners. While I think it is clearly something business owners should do, it also becomes a point where we start providing mandates and it potentially becomes a slippery slope and an additional cost of doing business.”

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