Columnist Jeff German: Cabbies need to be on camera

Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2004 | 11:38 a.m.

Jeff German's column appears Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in the Sun. Reach him at german@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4067.

I don't know whether I'd call it the moment of truth.

But after a year of workshops, polling, petition drives and debating, the time has come for the state Taxicab Authority board to do something to protect cabbies.

The five-member board meets next Tuesday to consider a proposal to order cameras in taxicabs. The cab companies would be required to install a digital still camera near the rear view mirror of each taxi, but the companies also would have the option of putting in a video camera.

"It's the right thing to do," says Arthur McClenaghan, a veteran Lucky Cab driver who has mounted a petition drive among cabbies in support of the cameras. "We need to fight back."

Adds Craig Harris, a veteran Yellow Checker Star driver and managing editor of the Trip Sheet, a monthly cabbie newspaper: "This is something we've needed to do for a long time."

Other big cities, such as New York, Washington, San Francisco and Houston, have ordered cameras in cabs within the past three years.

The concept was first raised here in 1992 after a series of violent crimes against drivers and then again in 1998 after two cabbies were murdered within four months of each other. But each time the idea was shot down, generally because of opposition from cab companies, which have to shell out the bucks to install the cameras.

Since the latest round of talks on the subject began last March, violence has continued to plague the industry. Star Cab driver Mark Chavez was shot in the head on May 9 and has been undergoing extensive rehabilitation ever since. Former Star driver Wagnaw Getahun terrorized his ex-colleagues during a robbery spree in August, and that same month Western Cab driver Aberga Asmamaw was strangled to death in his taxi.

In the last six weeks, Taxicab Authority investigators say, a serial robber has struck at least seven times.

McClenaghan and Harris are optimistic the Taxicab Authority board will approve Tuesday's camera proposal, which is being backed by the authority's administrator, Yvette Moore.

But they worry about the lack of support they've been getting from the companies, which seem to favor alternatives, such as lock boxes in cabs to minimize the amount of cash available to would-be robbers.

"They've thrown a lot of other ideas out there that have slowed the process down," McClenaghan says.

McClenaghan and Harris are convinced that cameras are the best route to go. Not only will they serve as a deterrent to criminals, but they also will help police apprehend someone who commits an act of violence against a cabbie.

Desert Cab owner George Balaban, who has been following the issue as closely as any owner, says he's not opposed to cameras. He just believes the available camera systems should be tested to determine which is the most effective before the cameras, as he put it, are "stuffed down our throats."

That sounds reasonable until you remember that drivers have been robbed and killed while the subject has been debated over the last year.

At some point the industry needs to step up to the plate and do the right thing. Next Tuesday would be a good time to do it.