"We've talked about it openly during the last two meetings with the Hagerstown Housing Authority," Johnson said.
Rhonda Will, director of security for the Hagerstown Housing Authority, said she is in support, in theory, of using more surveillance devices to help prevent crime.
"Personally, I think cameras in the whole city is a good idea, but I don't think there is enough money to take care of that," Will said.
Therein lies the hitch of any Noland Village camera proposal - finding the money to do it. Factors including restrictive city/state budgets, the development taking a back seat to plans for downtown cameras and a current lack of available grant money could hurt the timetable for or completely prohibit such a project in the courts of Noland Village, Johnson said.
A key reason the discussions began is the apparent increase in criminal activity in the development, especially over the last six months.
"We're having incidents (in Noland Village) everyone's familiar with," Johnson said. "It would be nice to have them (cameras) there if the money becomes available."
There have been several high-profile crimes committed in the Noland Village area since March. The incidents, documented by police and court records, include the following:
- On. Aug. 10, an allegedly intoxicated man walked outside an apartment in Court 7 and fired what officers believed to be a .38-caliber pistol into the air. No one was injured. Police charged Thomas M. Stillions Sr. with disorderly conduct, carrying a firearm, discharging a firearm within city limits and reckless endangerment.
- On July 23, a man allegedly refused to allow a woman to leave her apartment during a dispute over money. Police charged Jamel Gregory Lewis, 25, of Jamaica, N.Y., with second-degree assault and false imprisonment in connection with the incident.
- On July 20, a man allegedly fired a handgun in Court 1 following an altercation at one of its apartments. Police and witnesses said multiple shots were fired during a fight between two large groups of men. The groups allegedly included Noland Village residents and visitors. No one suffered a serious injury. The incident still is under investigation.
- On July 19, an 18-year-old man suffered a minor cut to his throat after two men allegedly approached the man with a knife inside Court 1. One of the men allegedly held the knife to the 18-year-old's throat during an ensuing fight. The incident still is under investigation.
- On June 20, 23-year-old Julius Ladipor Kaliku, whose address was not available, suffered stab wounds to the neck and side. In July, Gregory Allen Lassiter, 33, of the first block of North Mulberry Street, pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless endangerment in connection with the incident. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped charges including second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault.
- On June 19, a man allegedly fired a handgun toward a group of males before fleeing in a green sport utility vehicle. No one was injured. Police charged 18-year-old Tariq D. Small, also known as "R-Dot," formerly of 124 S. Prospect St., with first-degree assault and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and possession of a handgun in a motor vehicle in connection with the shooting. Officers from the New York City Police Department arrested Small last week in Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Between late April and early July, police charged several men in various incidents involving drug possession/distribution. Many of those incidents involved the possession and/or sale of crack cocaine.
- On March 16, two men allegedly choked a female cab driver from Miller Transportation and robbed her of $50. Police charged Lawrence Reginald Monroe, 18, of 442 Park Place, with two counts each of robbery and second-degree assault, and one count each of armed robbery, reckless endangerment and carrying a concealed weapon in connection with the incident. Police also charged his brother, Lamont M. Monroe, 19, of the same address, with two counts each of robbery, theft and second-degree assault. Police alleged the brothers also robbed another Miller Transportation driver of $50 at knifepoint on Park Place that evening.
Will did appear somewhat skeptical of using cameras to solve problems in high-crime areas, saying some people overvalue them.
