Police will soon have increased visibility in downtown Bryan. But not in the way you might think.

The city council Tuesday approved the installation of security cameras in downtown Bryan. The cost is just over $100,000, but the city will have pay only about $12,000 with the remainder coming from grants.

Police believe the cameras will not only help them in investigating crimes that happen, but will also serve as a deterrent to those thinking about committing a crime.

"There's going to be video cameras, four stationary, two of them pan and tilt and are mobile so we can pull them out and deploy them somewhere else," said Bryan Police Officer Jason James. "They're going to be recording all the time so if something happens downtown we can go back and look at the video."

This is only the first stage of the program. The next phase will use cameras to help respond to accidents, medical calls, and one day, possibly used in partnership with retail businesses' surveillance cameras.