Poll: Surveillance Cameras on Monte Vista?

near 5300 Monte Vista Street in Highland Park has prompted the Los Angeles Police Department to post the following question on their Facebook page.

The area along Monte Vista street in Highland Park has long been contested between several gangs. Do you support installing surveillance video cameras in the public area to help curb the violence?

Given the violence that's taken place on Monte Vista Street recently, would you support the idea of placing surveillance cameras in the neighborhood? Or do you fear that would unfairly infringe on the privacy of law-abiding citizens?

The Daily News also touched on it last week in a report about an LAPD plan to install cameras in the valley.

The American Civil Liberties Union has asked the city to stop surveillance programs, both because of privacy worries - there has been abuse elsewhere - and out of concern they don't work as well as advertised.

Zine, a retired police officer who's now a volunteer reserve officer, brushed off such objections. So did police, saying anyone who's in public has no expectation of privacy and law-abiding people have nothing to worry about.

"We're not putting these in backyards or homes," [said Councilman Dennis Zine.]

How effective are surveillance cameras in deterring crime? Law enforcement officials swear by them, but a 2011 report by the L.A. Times found that systems in Downtown were essentially useless.

The cameras were installed over the last few years in a highly publicized partnership between local business groups, which purchased them, and the Los Angeles Police Department, which was meant to monitor and maintain them.

But officials said the majority of the cameras don't work. Some broke down and were never fixed. In the case of six cameras purchased to watch over Little Tokyo, LAPD officials admit they were never plugged into the police station's monitoring bank.

Frustration about the broken cameras has deepened in recent days after a string of stabbings on a block in Skid Row. In one case, a 53-year-old man died after being stabbed and beaten by more than half a dozen suspects. No arrests have been made.

A camera is located just above where the stabbings occurred, but officials said the device was not working properly.

Are security cameras worth it? What do you think?