Surveillance cameras watch us at banks. Their stealthy eyes record us in stores. But could the cameras be coming to a neighborhood near you?

Yes - at least in Dallas' Richland Park Estates subdivision.

Fed up with crime in the Lake Highlands neighborhood, residents voted this week to install video cameras on streets and in alleyways. Residents will monitor video feeds and provide footage to police when crimes are committed.

The neighborhood joins a growing list of entities employing surveillance cameras to battle crime. Dallas police used cameras in Deep Ellum last year and are considering installing them at several South Dallas intersections.

The city just received an $800,000 grant to place them downtown.

Frank Rathbun, spokesman for the national Community Associations Institute, isn't aware of any community association doing camera surveillance, but he suspects the practice will become fairly common.

"Americans as a rule are getting more crime-conscious and doing whatever they can - legally - to protect their streets and neighborhoods," he said.

Experts say surveillance cameras are the future of passive security. Richland Park Estates' move, however, raises questions about privacy, potential misuse and effectiveness.