By Monique Roth
L’Observateur

LAPLACE – St. John the Baptist Parish Housing Authority complexes will soon be equipped with video surveillance systems.

The Housing Authority met in a quick meeting on Monday night and authorized Trina Henderson, executive director of the Housing Authority, to contract with MMR Communications for the installation of video surveillance cameras.

The monitoring system was discussed in length at January’s meeting.

The proposed systems will be bought and monitored by the Housing Authority, but in a unique collaboration, the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office will also have full access to the surveillance videos to assist them in gathering information about crimes that occur in the housing complexes.   

The monitoring systems will installed in phases at the Housing Authority’s four properties in LaPlace, Reserve, Edgard and Garyville, but no timeline for the cameras’ installation nor which developments will receive the electronic eyes first have yet been announced.

The next Housing Authority meeting will be Monday, March 17, at 5 p.m.