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Cameras latest effort to fight crime Monday Nov 14, 2016 at 12:01 AM By Shaun Hall Grants Pass Daily Courier Cherryl Walker has a bird's-eye view of life on the streets in Grants Pass. From her office on the north side of the Josephine County Courthouse, the county commissioner can literally look down on crime, public intoxication and scattered trash. "Drug dealing, fighting," Walker said Wednesday as Grants Pass police installed a sophisticated mobile camera system outside, to monitor the increasingly problematic location. "All kinds of illegal and inappropriate behavior." The installation of the camera is one of the latest signs of a city effort to address ongoing problems with street people and transients. "It's a community issue," City Manager Aaron Cubic said. "We need the community to come together." A "transient forum" is set for 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 101 N.W. A St., for the community to get an update on city actions and for residents and business people to share their observations and ideas. A similar forum was held a couple years ago. In response to problems on the streets, the Grants Pass Sobering Center opened this year as a place for officers to take intoxicated people. Also, beginning in a few weeks, a mobile kitchen will offer food at various locations. Thereafter, a downtown dining hall operated by St. Vincent de Paul will close, thus dispersing daily meal gatherings rather than having them at the same location each day. The county is considering removing benches from the area between the courthouse and Basker Auditorium, in an effort to discourage loitering, according to Josephine County Commissioner Simon Hare. "We're looking to try to work with the city to keep the number of people who are loitering there to a minimum," Hare said. However, the location also is a transit hub, with bus riders frequently using the benches while awaiting a ride. A new transit center funded with federal money is planned for a vacant lot around the corner at D and Fifth streets. For years, the city has employed the strategy of removing public benches in problem locations to discourage loitering. "It kind of pushes them from one spot or another," said police Sgt. Ed Burke, who stood by while a contractor installed a box containing cameras high on a street light in front of the courthouse, at Sixth and B streets. Dispatchers and officers at their work stations will be able to view live images taken by the camera. Burke said officers have been particularly busy at the courthouse location in the last month. "We've been having a lot of problems right in this spot," he said, as Russ Corby of Security Lines U.S. installed the camera, one of several the city uses at parks and problem locations. The cameras are mobile. "We use them all the time," Burke said. As he spoke, a bystander took it upon himself to clean up trash left behind on a bench. It took him several minutes to get it all. The debris included an open can of food, mostly uneaten. "It comes down to honor and respect," he said, not wishing to give his name. — Reach reporter Shaun Hall at 541-474-3722 or [email protected]