By Stephen Hooker - email
COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - Columbia's Five Points is taking the phrase "a good place to be" and making it better. New measures being taken in the neighborhood mean better safety for merchants and their customers.
In Five Points, it's about having a good time safely. And if you're a criminal, the neighborhood wants you to know they're watching you.
"If a security box or camera saves one life or prevents one crime, it's worth it," said Carey Shealy of Statewide Secuity Systems.
Shealy donated $50,000 dollars worth of security cameras and call boxes to the city of Columbia. The city won't have to pay to maintain the equipment for the first year.
Business owners are happy with the added security.
"No other neighborhood or district in the city has this level of coverage now," said Loose Lucy's owner Don McCallister. "We're really proud and excited about that, and hope that people will respond to it."
When you come down to Five Points, pick up a safety guides. It's got some great tips in it, and also tells you where the emergency call boxes are located. But what it won't tell you is where the security cameras are. They could be anywhere.
USC already has emergency call boxes all over its campus. It's now a smooth transition for safety-minded students, who walk past the USC boxes and into Five Points with its own call boxes.
"Yeah, you feel better, feel better and it might work if you ever were stuck in that scenario," said student Laura Sellers.
The city expects to expand these security measures into other areas of town in the future.
Copyright 2009 WIS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
