(Electure)

Electure,
Is that Cat-5 wire hooked up to them 120V wires?.
I would condemn anything I saw like this!.

Is the Cat5 connected to the power wiring, or just spliced with wirenuts?

If the column is considered a raceway, wireway, junction or pull box, them the cat-fivers ought to be busted! Codes seem fairly unambiguous on that.

I was under the impression that different services had to be segregated!.
Over here in NZ, you are not allowed to run a Cat5 wire within 50mm(2") of any mains cable.
How is it in the US?.

As an installer for security systems, CCTV included, this is more common than you think. I have never installed LV cables inside a lamp post myself but I have done plenty service calls where they run some THWN inside the pole up to an external transformer for the camera power and in the same pole run the coax and any communications to the camera. The right way to do it is to run the electric up the outside of the pole in conduit and the coax and data wires inside the pole, less conduit fill issues with THWN than four coax cables and a couple comm cables. I have also seen poles that had two raceways inside them, or a divider up the center to avoid these situations.

Jim

I just installed two video cameras on the top of light poles just like this one.

One was right next to the front door and we did not want to have exposed conduit on the pole because it looks too "industrial". So we put a box on the bottom of the pole, one at the top near the camera, and ran greenfield up the inside of the pole with a 90 on each end which terminated in the boxes.

The coax and LV went inside the greenfield.

On the other pole, out in the parking lot, we just ran PVC conduit up the outside.

It is unfortunate that a brand-new installation is starting off this way... It wouldn't take all that much to have it code-compliant and would make it more safe, reliable, etc.

One of these days a "security" technician will get a nice 277V poke from one of his 24AWG wires. Then, let all the finger-pointing and lawsuits begin!

Ah, but it will be a Cat-V 277V...all of those extra twists will slow down the electric.

These poles are all fed with 30A 480Volt circuits.
The other issue here?
The Cat5 cables are pulled underground and although they are in their own conduit I don't think that they're rated for wet locations...Remember, any underground conduit is considered as such.
I've used sealtite inside poles before (in much the same way as maintenanceguy) for coaxial cables/cameras...S

Aside to electure -- There is gel-filled/water-blocked RG-6/U and Cat5 4pr UTP cable available for outside/underground use.

I have seen this method spec'ed in plans and specifications.
If I know that power and comm wiring are going to be in the same pole, I run nonmetallic greenfield from a j-box in the hand hole area to tthe lights.
The security guys can worry about signal loss or data corruption.
To get a pole with a divider is cost prohibitive on a bid job. Maybe as a change order once the contract is signed.

Electure,
As long as the conduit was sealed with a solvent cement I don't think there would be a problem.
As Bjarney said, there are cables made to run U/G, but I would personally keep them away from any mains voltage cables, over any long length of run.
Over here, a Telco, stipulates that the power and thier cables must be vertically segregated(in a trench) by 300mm, this is the same for any other "services" (water, etc) that go into the same trench.

Trumpy
It does not matter if you seal a conduit that is underground or not. Water will still get in it. Condensation, ground movement, and ground rodents digging and chewing all cause problems sooner or later. The wire in an ungerground installation needs to be rated for wet service. Most CAT 5 is not.