-- From Times staff reporter Christine Clarridge:

Noting an increase in street violence, the head of the Urban League on Tuesday morning called on the city to install surveillance cameras around violence-prone "hot spots" in and around the Rainer Beach neighborhood.

James Kelly, president and chief executive officer of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, said during a news conference that he'd like to see surveillance cameras installed at 12th Avenue South and South Jackson Street; Rainier Avenue South and South Henderson Street; Renton Avenue South and South Henderson Street; and around Rainier Beach High School. He said the installation of cameras around Garfield High School has reduced violence.

Kelly said a pervasive street culture that frowns upon providing police with information, or "snitching," has hampered the investigations into three recent shootings in the area. The recent violence he cited occurred on:

-- Nov. 12, when a 17-year-old boy was shot in the leg behind the library at 9135 50th Ave. S.;

-- Oct. 20, when a 17-year-old boy was arrested after allegedly firing gunshots at a vehicle in the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Way South and South Graham Street.

-- Oct. 16, when a 17-year-old boy was shot at a bus shelter at Rainier Avenue South and South Cloverdale Street.

To read a previous Times story on the "no-snitch" policy, click here.