EYES ON YOU

B’klyn shops get city $ for security cams

A HANDFUL OF Brooklyn businesses are getting city money to install security cameras to monitor sidewalks in front of their shops, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said Tuesday.

Adams allocated $2,500 in discretionary funds to five business and community umbrella groups throughout the borough.

Under the plan, organizations receiving the cameras will set the devices up facing toward the sidewalk and street in order to monitor the public areas near their establishments.

All the cameras will also be registered with the local NYPD precinct so cops can quickly view video footage if a crime occurs in the area.

The civic and business groups participating in the program signed a formal agreement saying they “will make available to the NYPD all video footage recorded by the security camera to aid in the event of an investigation within a reasonable time period. At no time can any business withhold footage from a camera installed under the agreement.”

Civil libertarians have questioned similar setups in the past, arguing that they violate privacy rights. The New York Civil Liberties Union contends no research has shown that security cameras actually make the public safer.

“This is just another way to add government cameras to the streets,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “The NYPD should make clear to the public what procedures they will be following to obtain and store videos of these private cameras.”

The NYPD did not respond to a request seeking comment.

Still, Adams, a former police captain, believes the new cameras will help deter crime.

“Too often when criminal activity occurs along our commercial corridors, police waste precious time surveying local businesses to see if they have cameras that may or may not have filmed actions related to the crime,” Adams said in a statement. “Operation Safe Shopper is a smart deployment of security technology that partners key community stakeholders in the greater pursuits of justice and crime deterrence, all while promoting safer shopping experiences that advance local economic activity.”

If the setup proves effective, Adams plans to expand the program next year. The groups receiving the money are the Pitkin Ave. and Park Slope Fifth Ave. Business Improvement Districts, Crown Heights Jewish Community Council, Alliance for Coney Island and the Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project Local Development Corp.