Chief Fletcher makes recommendations to Housing Authority

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee (WDEF) – The Chattanooga Housing Authority is open to many ideas so when Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher showed up at a CHA board meeting, members were all ears.

When asked how to better deter crime in Chattanooga’s public housing development, Chief Fletcher told housing authority board members that more surveillance cameras are strongly needed.

Chattanooga Housing Authority Police Chief Felix Vess strongly agreed with Chief Fletcher.

"We do have some cameras installed but most of our camera systems were installed about eight years ago, so we do need to upgrade that," Vess said.

Vess said better cameras eliminate the chance of people giving false statements when telling police they witnessed a crime.

"The camera could be a witness to a crime and also used in court, so you’re taking that witness out of it. You’re taking the witnesses statements out of it," Vess said.

Both police chiefs agree that residents living in public housing developments are abiding by the rules. WDEF wanted to know who was actually causing the problems.

"People who come to visit. That’s one of the biggest problems for his staff and mine. Something like cameras can help identify trouble makers," Fletcher said.

Although there has only been one murder this year that occurred inside a housing project, the vast majority of crimes are assaults.

"70-percent of those people who do that or are involved in that crime are non-residents. They want to come to the public housing communities to say hey, we want to cause crime here but we want to go back to Brainerd Road and lay our head down because we don’t want the trouble at our house," Vess said.

Chief Fletcher also recommended that each housing development has an adequate balance of lights to deter criminals who like to commit crimes under the cloak of darkness.