More security cameras added in downtown Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - "Big Brother" is watching you in downtown Indianapolis. You may have noticed a few of these cameras downtown already. Look forward to seeing a few more.

City officials said the cameras are another step to help make residents and visitors feel safe - especially when it comes to the Super Bowl in February 2012.

"It makes me feel better,” Indianapolis resident Heather McBride said of the cameras. “I don't know if it will make me feel completely comfortable. It's not like the camera’s going to protect you, but it would help."

Gary Coons, chief of the Division of Homeland Security in the city of Indianapolis Department of Public Safety, said the city wants to be well prepared for Super Bowl XLVI.

"These cameras are really like a forced multiplier,” he said. “You can only have so many officers in so many places."

There are 68 cameras downtown already up around downtown. The city plans to install an additional 12 more. Six of the surveillance cameras will go in Super Bowl Village on Georgia Street. About eight cameras will go up around Lucas Oil Stadium - the epicenter of the Super Bowl festivities, where thousands of people will be next February.

"We will add cameras so that we have a total view of the stadium itself," Coons said, "Having these cameras, you get a bigger view, you get a different view, you get a higher view of really what's going on."

And everything that happens will be seen from a central command center. The cameras record in real time all the time.

"We can direct officers in, or fire fighters into the scene to help people and mitigate the situation that's occurring," Coons said.

The cameras cost about $5,000. Federal grants have paid for them. The city will be responsible for maintaining and keeping them serviced.