Mayor Richard M. Daley said today that his 2007 City budget will contain $1 million to purchase more than 100 additional street-corner surveillance cameras to protect Chicago’s neighborhoods. The City already has more than 200 such cameras.

“Chicago has been a leader in the use of cameras as a crime prevention tool,” Daley said at a news conference following an address to a Chicago Police Department graduating class at the McCormick Place Lakeside Center. “We’ve installed them in neighborhoods around the city to prevent crime -- especially drug crimes -- from taking hold on street corners.

“So far this year, these cameras have directly assisted in hundreds of arrests and have resulted in a substantial reduction in crime in areas where they’ve been up for more than six months.

“People want these cameras in their neighborhoods, because they increase security and disrupt the activities of the drug dealers. We can’t afford to have a police officer on every corner, but cameras are the next best thing.”

Police Supt. Philip J. Cline said the new cameras are wireless, lighter, less expensive and more advanced than the previous model. They can digitally record and store video to be downloaded, and the flashing blue lights and markings of the older model have been replaced with high-visibility signage alerting criminals that their actions are being observed.

“With more cameras, we are putting more cops on the street, and we are sending a message to the gangs that they are being watched,” Cline said. “Community feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.”

In locations where the cameras have been installed for more than 180 days, total reported crime has decreased by over 30 percent and narcotics incidents have been reduced by over 60 percent, Cline said.

Daley said the surveillance cameras, coupled with tougher enforcement of the curfew, have contributed to a steady drop in the city’s crime rate over the last 14 years.

Between June 8 and September 22, Chicago Police issued 10,359 curfew citations. During that period 281 fines were imposed on the parents of juveniles who committed crimes after the curfew.

“We emphasize curfew enforcement during the summer, because that’s when crime tends to increase,” Daley said. “But I want to remind parents, and their children, that the curfew remains in effect throughout the year.”

Chicago’s curfew ordinance states that children under the age of 17 may not be out after 10:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday or after 11:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.