New Houston ordinance requires night-life businesses to install security cameras, turn footage over to police

A new rule instituted in Houston, Texas, which was passed by the city council on Wednesday, will require certain businesses to install security cameras as well as flood lights in an initiative looking to tackle violent crime in the area.

The ordinance will apply to all bars, nightclubs, sexually-oriented businesses, convenience stores, and game rooms that are within city limits, according to Nora Mishanec of the Houston Chronical.

All the aforementioned businesses will be required to hold security footage for a period of 30 days and then turn it over to police within 72 hours of their request if necessary. The move comes as part of Mayor Sylvester Turner’s initiative called “One Safe Houston” that looks to target 2022’s rise in crime. 

“Today, we are letting people know, if you are loitering outside of convenience stores, sexually-oriented businesses, bars, and committing crimes, we will see you on camera,” said Mayor Pro-Tem Martha Castex-Tatum when discussing the ordinance with ABC13 reporter Tom Abrahams.

“And if you are committing those crimes, we will make sure that you pay the penalty for causing a nuisance in the City of Houston.”

Although the measure passed on a 15-1 vote, Mike Knox, at-large council member and former Houston police officer, was the single objecting vote. He argued that the onus on businesses to put in cameras is an unfair request, and he added that the measure does not reach far enough to reduce crime. 

The vote also took place over objections from the American Civil Liberties Union, which wrote in a letter to council members this week that the ordinance was unconstitutional and made those particular businesses “extensions of a citywide surveillance scheme.”

The shops and businesses will now have 90 days to install their cameras and additional lighting. According to the ordinance, the lights and cameras will have to reach from the building to the street, and establishments out of compliance will be forced to pay a $500 fine.