The push for the installation of dozens of cameras in the South End

BOSTON — Stepped-up surveillance could soon be coming to a Boston neighborhood caught in the crosshairs of the opioid epidemic.

A new push calls for 40 police-monitored surveillance cameras to be installed through some of the South End. Some community leaders believe it could help protect the neighborhood around the clock.

"The cameras, it's not like they're going to be hidden," said Frank Baker, a Boston City Councilor for District 3. "They'll know they're lit up and they're on film."

As increased patrols work 24/7 to keep watch over Boston's South End, there are undeniable challenges in seeing everything that goes on.

"When bad things happen the first thing police do a lot of the times they'll come up and look for cameras," Baker said.

For weeks, Boston 25 News has shown you troubling surveillance footage from people's private security cameras, exposing suspicious activity at all hours of the night that neighbors believe are coming from so-called 'Methadone Mile.'

Baker believes police could really use their own surveillance cameras.

"They won't need to knock on doors, they'll have an actual real-time of what's going on out on the street," he said.

Related: Some business owners near 'Methadone Mile' say they're locking doors during the day

Baker is behind a new push for the installation of about 40 cameras stretching from Blackstone and Franklin Square down to Albany Street, dozens of sites that police could access live around the clock.

"A police officer will have the ability to sit on one street if they want and watch activity on the other street," he said.

The estimated $100,000 cost of the extended surveillance system would come from a community benefit fund paid for by a private development as part of an agreement with the Boston Planning and Development Agency.

"This is a way toward private development, private partnerships," Baker said.

"Put the cameras up," said Nancy MacKinnon, a South End resident. "I live on 'meth mile,' they're out in front of my house every single day and night zombified."

MacKinnon has lived in the South End for 43 years and believes more cameras could help police combat the current crime and evolving challenges being felt in the community.

"I wholeheartedly support more security," she said. "As long as I’m out here in the world, it's not infringing on my privacy."

The Blackstone Franklin Square Neighborhood Association also has the option of choosing a much smaller network of surveillance cameras.

Boston Police say the footage that's captured would be erased after 30 days, and they tell Boston 25 News that a digital record would be kept of anyone who accesses both live and recorded video.

Cox Media Group