Jason Pohl

If you have sat in traffic along the Mulberry corridor recently and felt like you were being watched, you weren’t imagining an extra set of eyes.

For the second year, the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office has brought out cameras and positioned them along Mulberry Street at the Timberline Road intersection, along with a junction closer to Interstate 25, in an effort to deter now-restricted panhandling in heavily trafficked areas. Tasked with enforcing rules adopted in 2013 that are aimed at curtailing panhandling, the sheriff’s office uses the cameras as an extra set of eyes in the sky to help limit where and when people are allowed to ask for money.

Authorities credit the cameras with helping to reduce panhandling throughout 2013. The one at the Timberline intersection is most useful for panhandling, while the one closer to I-25 is aimed at curbing prostitution and illegal drug use and dealing, the sheriff’s office said.

Officials opted to redeploy the cameras recently to coincide with warmer weather, which often leads to an increased number of panhandling in certain areas, officials said.

The cameras run on a gas-powered generator and feed an online video stream back to the sheriff’s office, where deputies can monitor remotely whether panhandlers are setting up shop in the forbidden zone. The sheriff’s office obtained the cameras through a grant several years ago, and the only associated costs for operation are keeping fuel in the generator and the manpower used to deploy the carts.

Larimer County commissioners in 2013 passed an ordinance that took aim at panhandling and made violations punishable by fines up to $1,000, though deputies view that as a last resort. Among the restrictions passed were limitations on how persistent panhandlers could be, along with where and when they could ask for money.

The sheriff’s office then implemented a multi-step plan that included warning people, issuing citations and issuing summonses to violators that require a court appearance.

The cameras are also used in conjunction with a long-term project dubbed Operation New Dawn, aimed at reducing the amount of criminal activity in the East Mulberry area.