Although the new security camera system in the Kahite neighborhood in Vonore is still in the evaluation phase, Tellico Village Property Owners Association officials have said that the surveillance equipment offers a degree of clarity in identifying details about visitors that is leaps and bounds above the previous analog system.
The system, which was installed in February, includes four Internet protocol cameras at a guard house near the entrance of Kahite and a remote center in the main part of the Village that houses the viewing software. Data collected from the system includes clear images of visitor license plates, faces and other identifying information, along with a time stamp to assist law enforcement in tracking down potential offenders in the event of vandalism or theft.
Jeff Gagley, public works director with the POA, said finding information on the previous analog system was “cumbersome.”
“It’s much easier to do a project like that in Kahite because it’s a single entrance,” Gagley said. “There’s only one way ... in and one way out.”
John Cherry, public relations manager with the POA, said the camera system in Kahite was originally installed in an attempt to tamp down on issues like absconded mail, minor vandalism and deer poachers.
“A good comparison would be, before it was a needle in a haystack,” Cherry said about the old analog cameras. “Now, it’s a file system where we can go to a specific time period, and then Jeff can call up specific and clear images of vehicles.”
Gagley said while four cameras were installed a few months ago, a fifth camera will come online within the next couple months. The system, including the cameras, software and a four-terabyte hard drive, cost an estimated $21,000.
POA board member Joe Marlette said although he has not viewed the surveillance footage in person, he is pleased with the video quality after hearing a recent presentation from Gagley about the system.
“Jeff gave us an update on it a few weeks ago where he showed us some excerpts from the video that he had taken so we were able to see the quality,” Marlette said. “To me, it looks good, and we’re in the evaluation stage on that system, and (we’ll) see how it continues to look.”
Gagley said a project to upgrade the rest of the Village with digital surveillance cameras was not in the POA’s five-year plan. Gagley’s office is currently changing out some cameras in the Village on a piecemeal basis. The POA has security cameras at the main facilities, including the recreational facilities, boat docks and the Yacht Club.
Unlike Kahite, some neighborhoods in the main part of the Village have multiple exits, which could make going to all digital cameras a complicated and expensive undertaking.
“It’s a little bit more difficult, and it’s a lot larger population that you’re trying to capture and the circumstances or the environment that Kahite’s in was ideal,” Gagley said. “Out here, we don’t have a guard shack at the entrance of every neighborhood.”
Gagley said the POA was “slowly” moving toward adding more digital equipment as the analog cameras approach the end of their usable lifetimes. He said buying digital cameras was cheaper in the long run than replacing the analogs.
“I think that’s a good preventative statement to deter anyone from wanting to do vandalism or come through one of our parking lots and hit cars during an event because they know people are going to be away from their cars,” Cherry said. “Not a good idea here because we have cameras that are watching our parking lots.”
Cherry said the cameras provide an extra degree of deterrence from “smash and grab” robberies.
“That’s a great deterrent is the fact that we’re watching those parking lots, so not a good plan,” Cherry said. “... That’s what I like about our camera system. It should give Villagers a good peace of mind that it’s acting as a deterrent, but also if it doesn’t deter someone, it makes it a little easier for us to catch a suspect or work with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office to solve the crime.”
