Councilman Steve Leal spent $549 in city money on video-recording equipment for residents in his South Side ward to record drug deals.

Leal said videos can be helpful for police, and that it's safe for residents to tape drug dealers if they do so through the windows of their houses with the curtains mostly closed.

But personal-injury attorney Louis Hollingsworth said enticing residents to tape drug dealing could end up costing taxpayers much more because suggesting residents tape dangerous criminal activity and providing them the equipment could "absolutely" result in legal liability for the city.

What's more, Pueblo Gardens resident Cindy Ayala said, if you're going to videotape drug dealers in her neighborhood, "You might as well put a bull's-eye on your belly."

Ayala is vice president of the neighborhood association for Pueblo Gardens, an area between East 22nd and 36th streets around Cherrybell Stravenue and Campbell Avenue with a long history of violence and drug problems.

On the receipt Leal submitted to be reimbursed for the equipment, he wrote that it was for "neighborhoods to use for video surveillance/documentation of drug dealers."

In interviews last week, he said that's not the only use for the camera he bought in May.

It can also be used to document and catch speeders, document violations by street vendors, record prostitution and even tape community events such as soccer matches, he said.

He said his note on the receipt was only an abbreviated one.

"It's used for a great range of things, not just drug dealers," Leal said.

Leal said his office had an older camera that was used to tape violations of street vendors. But he bought the new one because one resident didn't want to use the old shoulder-mounted VHS camera with an eyepiece, which Leal described as bulky, clunky and awkward.

He couldn't point to any specific cases aided by use of the new camera, because, he said, "We haven't had the new one long enough to bear fruit." He said the old one didn't get used enough to be helpful.

He said other video surveillance equipment — not all city-provided — has been used in his ward to document the loud disturbances of a trucking company and to ward off prostitution in the West Ochoa Neighborhood, south of 22nd Street between I-10 and South Sixth Avenue.

Because 911 calls are public record — although anyone who wants to see them has to show identification to police — Leal said some residents would rather videotape drug dealers than call 911.

Tucson police Sgt. Ron Zimmerling, supervisor for the department's targeted-response unit, said shooting out of windows with the drapes closed is all residents should ever do with the video camera.

Because taping dealers would give them reason to hurt or even kill residents, he strongly discouraged citizens from going outside and taping "because it's not safe. Don't go out and expose yourself to them," he said.

He added, though, it could be safe to videotape from inside the house if it's from a vantage point that can't be seen from the outside.

While the video documentation could be helpful, Zimmerling said, residents can achieve the same ends without using the camera simply by documenting when cars arrive, how long they stay, how many there are and a description of the cars. Police can use that information as a legal basis for obtaining warrants.

He said the video could be used as a basis to obtain warrants as well, but couldn't be used as evidence in court.

Hollingsworth, the liability lawyer, said the suggested use of the video camera by the city could put it in the uncomfortable position of having a jury decide who is liable if someone is injured when using the camera to document illegal activity.

He said a case could be made for negligent conduct by the city because it used another person as an agent to videotape an inherently dangerous activity. He said the city would counterargue under the "assumption of risk doctrine" that the person using the video camera assumed the risk and should have known it was inherently dangerous.

City Risk Manager Joel Peterson said he didn't believe the city would be liable because the risk would pass to a third party — the resident. However, he said he couldn't comment further.

But, Hollingsworth said, "those are all jury questions," and a jury would calculate the degree to which the city and the resident were at fault, if a case made it that far.

Hollingsworth said the cases would be attractive to a personal-injury lawyer only if there were a catastrophic injury, or if the resident were killed by a drug dealer. However, those would also be the cases that would likely cost the city the most money.

Annabelle Nuñez, former association president for the National Cities Neighborhood near Irvington Road and South 12th Avenue, said she hadn't been contacted about using the camera, and wasn't sure if people in the neighborhood would be interested in using it to tape drug dealers.

In the Fairgrounds Neighborhood, near South Sixth Avenue and Irvington, residents have been offered a video camera several times by Leal's office to document street vendors, along with prostitution and drug dealing at a bar, said Lupe Rodriguez, the neighborhood association's former president.

"We never took them up on the offer," Rodriguez said, adding that at 70 years old, "I didn't feel comfortable doing that."

Ayala, the Pueblo Gardens resident, said she hadn't been contacted by Leal's office to use the camera, but doesn't think it is a good idea to tape drug dealers.

"You can't just go put someone under surveillance," Ayala said. "If you're just a regular citizen you're putting your life in your hands."

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