Miami Beach's Budget Advisory Committee voted that elected officials should consider placing surveillance cameras in its entertainment district as a means to reduce police personnel costs by deterring crime.

 

That recommendation comes about one month after commissioners approved the installation of a $225,000 security and surveillance system. The cameras -- which in the future should number 30 -- are meant to catch red-light runners, but also stream continuous video.

 

Assistant Chief Raymond Martinez said more than 35 percent of the city's calls come from the entertainment district, though he said he didn't know if surveillance cameras have been proved to prevent crime or reduce personnel costs.

 

However, Mayor Matti Herrera Bower has been vocally opposed to the use of surveillance technology in public places, calling it "an invasion of privacy.''