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Public split on BREC possibly implementing surveillance system across many parks
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BATON ROUGE - A plan by the East Baton Rouge Parish Recreation and Park Commission to utilize cameras at many area parks for a surveillance system has drawn praise and fire from the public.
While some Baton Rouge residents told WBRZ they support the move, others say it could be a possible infringement on their rights.
"The last eight years, we've had over 1500 cameras across 77 locations, and those cameras have been underutilized. They've largely existed to provide evidence of things that have happened," BREC Information Systems Director Steven Knight told BREC Commissioners at its January 2026 meeting.
According to Knight, the cameras will be linked to a security operations monitoring center that works around the clock. Meanwhile, two or more people will monitor and track the system.
It's a system that will be set up by consulting companies run by former police officers.
"They're going to provide the standard operating procedures of how you mitigate certain incidents," Knight said.
The system will use artificial intelligence to monitor activity captured by the cameras. If the AI sees something, it would alert officials both in the monitoring center and on the ground in the park about ongoing situations in real-time.
"What we're also adding to some of these sights is the ability to talk down. You'll be able to have that real-time conversation to say, 'Please exit the property. Do you need help?'"
Knight said that the surveillance camera will not record audio, but that BREC plans for the video to be recorded in real-time.
The surveillance comes as a surprise to many, including Lexi Reese, who frequents City-Brooks Park.
"I think I'm on board. I mean, the main purpose of the parks is to foster community and have people feel safe and have fun while utilizing the BREC resources," Reese said.
Another park-goer, Travis Newman, objected to the extensive surveillance, saying the constant monitoring, even without audio being recorded, is a step too far.
"That was strange to me because I think that if you need round-the-clock surveillance, that's on another level. That's not for the security of the people because that's some whole policing type stuff if you were to ask me," Newman said.
Others find themselves on the fence, saying that the safety that could come with increased monitoring, while also acknowledging concerns that the entire plan might be over-surveillance.
"Is it overkill? Maybe, but I don't think it's going to hurt anybody by having them here," park-goer Jacob Boudreaux said.
As for when the plan could take place, questions remain. BREC commissioners could not come to an agreement Thursday on one-year contract extensions for the two consulting companies. It settled on just a one-month extension.
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