Carey Shealy of Statewide Security Systems donates surveillance cameras for Five Points. In a few areas of Five Points, Columbia police officers now have the ability to be in two places at once.

New security cameras installed in strategic areas in the district will allow officers to view and monitor from their squad cars, real- time, high- resolution video at any given moment.

"We have the technology for the police to tap into any of the cameras via their laptops and see what's going on," said Columbia Police Safety director Mike King. "If there is a distress call in the area, or we hear of something going on, they can monitor it right away."

The installation of surveillance cameras was the primary focus of a

September 4 press conference at the Five Points Wachovia Bank parking lot, as city officials, Columbia police, and Five Points Association merchants rolled out the first of several initiatives that merchants hope will make the district safer for patrons.

The area has been spotlighted recently because of several vicious assaults including that of a Columbia man who was robbed and beaten by 10- 15 people in August.

Organizers of the hour- long event that was attended by Columbia Mayor Bob Coble, Five Points Association President Don McCallister, Councilwoman Dr. Belinda Gergel and other key police officials recognized businessman Carey Shealy of Statewide Security Systems, who donated the cameras to the city and plans to maintain them free of charge for one year.

"The three questions that I am asked are where are they, how many are there, and will you be putting up others?" he said. "The answer to the first two questions is 'I'm not going to tell you.' But I will say that we are going to install more in the future."

After the press conference, Shealy declined to estimate the cost of his donation, commenting only, "let's just say it's not cheap," but added that he felt driven to make the gift after hearing about what McCallister, at the press conference, called "infrequent but troubling incidents with crime."

"We come to this area a lot to eat lunch and to shop," Shealy said. "When we heard about what was going on, we just wanted to do something to help."

Five Points Association president Don McCallister speaks at press conference. With two terabytes of storage capacity provided by SSS, video from the cameras will be available for viewing for at least 30 days, according to Shealy.

The company's donation also included the installation of three new emergency call boxes that, with the push of a button, dial directly into Columbia's 911 system. The structures, which are designed to meet ADA requirements for those with hearing or communication difficulties, are equipped with red "call- received" indicator lights.

The new call boxes are located at 1900 Blossom Street, 800 Harden Street, and Pavillion Avenue where it meets Lee and Santee. The University of South Carolina police also maintain a call box on Greene Street near Laurens Street.

Coble called the donation from Shealy as an example of "the kind of part- nership that we need to have in the future," and King said it was an opportunity to have a year- long "experiment."

"We now have the luxury of having a one- year, real- world test of a system that we could later install in other areas of the city," King said.

According to an FPA press release, the association is also working with merchants, employees, and patrons in order to make the area safer.

The FPA held a meeting Wednesday "to educate merchants and employees on personal safety in all situations," and have developed pamphlets for merchants to distribute to patrons "detailing locations of all emergency call boxes and the proper way to use them."

The pamphlet also includes safety tips and key emergency phone numbers.

And one final word from the police: jokesters beware. Anyone tampering with the call boxes or cameras will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.