BROCKTON, MA – As the city mayor seeks to expand video surveillance, bar owner says crash footage shows security cameras already working. After 7-year-old Victor Gomes Jr. was struck by an SUV on North Main Street earlier this year, breaking his leg, there was considerable confusion about what happened. Gomes’s family members claimed the driver attempted to flee. Police said the driver was cooperative when they arrived at the scene. And no one could say for sure whether Victor had put himself in danger near the vehicle before being hit.

A week later, police officers said they had reviewed video surveillance and determined that the boy ran out into the street. They also issued a citation to the driver for leaving the accident scene.

The security footage came from a camera mounted on the outside of The Spot, according to bar owner Chenet Sam, a Boston resident and Verizon engineer.

Sam said this week that although he supports Mayor Bill Carpenter’s recent efforts to expand video surveillance throughout the city, including by mandating extensive security systems at bars and restaurants open after midnight, he is among those bar owners who are already proactively helping police fight crime.

“I know bars sometimes get a bad rap and sometimes crime does happen,” Sam said. “But we’re just trying to do the right thing.”

The Spot, at 133 N. Main St., has several exterior and interior cameras, likely enough to cover the requirements Carpenter has pitched to the License Commission, Sam said.

His 16-day video storage capacity, however, would not meet the minimum 30 days the mayor has asked the commission to approve.