The long arm of the law will get a little longer this week when technicians install another surveillance camera in the village. With the addition of this camera, which will be installed on a utility pole on Route 212 (Ulster Avenue) at the railroad tracks, there will be five cameras spanning the village.
Existing cameras are at on M&T Bank at Main and Market, on a utility pole next to the Exchange at Main and Partition, on a pole at the intersection of Partition and Russell, and near Cahill School at the intersection of Main and Washington.
These five cameras, along with the dozens of cameras at many of the stores and homes along the main roads in the village, comprise a network of surveillance devices that police chief Joseph Sinagra says have already helped his department solve a number of crimes. He knows they will continue to do so into the future.
As a dramatic example, a surveillance camera helped solve what happened near the intersection of Main and Partition streets when an individual walked out into Partition Street without looking, according to information captured by the camera, where he was hit and killed by a truck.
Cameras have also helped police find out who damaged some of the art on Main Street projects in the last few years, and several assaults.
In addition to the surveillance cameras there are also two license-plate readers in the village, one at the Main and Washington intersection and another near the Main and Market intersection. Sinagra has insisted that neither the cameras nor the license-plate readers are used to track the movements of residents’ vehicles throughout the village. They’re solely to help solve crimes, the chief has said.