LEXINGTON, N.C. – Smile, you're on camera.
Twenty-one permanent surveillance cameras have been installed at seven different intersections on Main Street in Lexington.
It's a move the city says will enhance security and allow officers to keep a closer eye on the Historic Uptown district.
Several weeks after being installed, the cameras helped police arrest a suspect accused of causing $3,500 in damage to the city's Depot District, according to Lexington City Manager Alan Carson.
Lexington police won't release the footage because the case hasn't gone to trial.
For the last seven years, Chief of Police Tad Kepley says Lexington used temporary cameras, borrowed from the Davidson County Sheriff's Office, during the city's annual Barbeque Festival.
Purchasing and installing permanent cameras was a natural move, according to Kepley, given how helpful they've been during the festival, when about 200,000 people pack the city's center.
Greensboro and Winston-Salem are both considering similar initiatives to install surveillance cameras downtown.