Security cameras are going up at Bridgeport's public-housing complexes as part of a $500,000 project to make the city safer.

At the P.T. Barnum complex, a worker used a bucket truck to reach high places in order to install the cameras for "Operation Virtual Shield," which is being funded with federal dollars. The money is being channeled through the local housing authority as part of Mayor Joe Ganim's community policing initiative.

Bridgeport Police Department Chief A.J. Perez watched the cameras go up at P.T. Barnum on Wednesday. "It's going to keep the good people that live here safe," he said. "I spent my first five years as a patrolman here, walking. There's a lot of good people that live here."

Over the past week, two people were shot at the complex. Perez said the cameras may assist with investigations by providing license plate numbers and other identifying information.

Authorities hope the cameras will reduce violent crime by as much as 50 percent in public areas, where many shootings occur.

Residents said the cameras seem like Big Brother is watching, but they understand that the cameras are needed. "The fact that somebody could just be walking to a store and they get innocently shot down when they have nothing to do with the problem, I mean it's heart-breaking," said resident Carr Bernard. "It needs to be stopped."

The installation of the cameras at all public-housing complexes in the city is expected to be completed soon. 

Police plan to assign a group of officers to each housing project once the installation is complete.