Paul Bass Photo
Romei: 5 new cameras coming to Chapel West.
A man danced in daylight at the intersection of Chapel and Church as downtown police and security personnel tried coaxing him out of the street. Onlookers had pulled out their cell phones to record him — joined by the Town Green Special Services District.
In case you haven’t noticed, your comings and goings downtown and along Upper Chapel and Dwight are likely being recorded.
Part of Town Green’s Downtown Digital Eye program, the cameras roll all the time. They have been in place at the intersection of Chapel and Church streets and facing the bus stop on Chapel Street since last year when a new joint police substation-“Downtown Community Alliance” storefront opened at 900 Chapel St. across from the Green.
In addition to the cameras, there are four monitors outside of the Downtown Community Alliance office and police substation where people can see what’s being recorded in real time and to get news for events that are happening downtown.
And there are more cameras coming — not just by the Green, but in other commercial districts, too.
This year cameras and signs are coming to five intersections downtown: Chapel and Orange streets, Orange and Crown streets, Orange and George streets, Orange and State streets, and State Street and North Frontage Road. Next year, even more cameras are coming.
Markeshia Ricks Photo
“This is not about big brother watching you,” said Matthew Griswold (pictured), public space manager for Town Green Special Services District, the group responsible for the cameras. “This is about keeping the bad guys from doing bad things.”
“Bad things” like selling drugs out of the bus stop shelters on Chapel Street. Bad things like tagging buildings downtown with spray paint and throwing the Town Green’s lawn furniture into the fountain on the Green. And bad things like snatching a purse out of the Downtown Community Alliance office.
Griswold said the purse snatching happened recently to the alliance’s office manager. He managed to run the thief down and snatch the purse back, but the guy got away.
But if the purse snatcher ever returns to the scene of the crime, Griswold said, police and security personnel will know who he is because the cameras got a good look at his face.
“We’ve caught people doing graffiti,” he said. “We’ve caught people shoplifting.” Griswold said the cameras also allow Town Green and other officials to see if there is a tree down, or a need for some other intervention downtown.
Because of the Downtown Community Alliance, a partnership between Town Green, the New Haven Police Department and the Yale Police Department, public safety and law enforcement officials have access to the cameras.
That means if they need to, they can pan and zoom the cameras to get a closer look at what people might be doing in a bus shelter for instance, or what’s happening along the route to the train station. The video also is stored for about 16 days, which is handy when law enforcement needs to review it.
Police Chief Dean Esserman said that the police department lobbied for fixed cameras that focused on the sidewalks instead of facing traffic, and that ultimately he wanted people to know that they were being recorded.
Griswold said that in addition to the fixed cameras there will be some cameras that provide a 360-degree view that “creates a lot of redundancy to make sure that nothing gets missed.”
He also said more signs (like the one pictured) popping up around downtown to alert people that they’re on camera. “We just want to make sure that visitors downtown feel safe,” he said.
Sheila Masterson of the Whalley Avenue Special Services District said her group has set aside $6,000 to donate to the police department to buy new cameras to monitor hot spots like the corner of Norton and Whalley, and Ella Grasso Boulevard and Whalley.
The department already has a camera at Sherman Avenue, she said. And individual businesses have cameras. The new cameras will provide needed extra eyes, especially at night, she said. The new police substation under construction at 332 Whalley (interior pictured) will be retrofitted with technology to help, she added.
Meanwhile, the pioneer in neighborhood surveillance cameras — the Chapel West Special Services District — is readying a new, expanded phase.
With the help of Yale, the district several years ago spent $65,000 on four cameras at Chapel and Howe, Crown and Howe, Edgewood and Howe, and Chapel and Park, said Chapel West President Vincent Romei. He said the cameras, and the signs that accompany them, have helped drive down crime rates in the neighborhood.
But they haven’t always helped solve crimes, because they offer only a 90-degree view, said Chapel West Executive Director Brian McGrath. The cameras have caught crimes in action, but missed key shots of the perpetrators. So now the district plans to spend $110,000 to replace those four cameras with new versions that can take 360-degree views and zoom. The money will also pay for a new camera at a fifth spot, the corner of Chapel and Dwight streets.
The district has raised about half of the $110,000 so far, according to Romei. He said he expects the five cameras to be installed within 60 days.
Also, the new cameras will connect directly to the police department. The four existing cameras connect to the city traffic and parking office, because at the time of installation the police department was more focused on video surveillance of the Long Wharf area.
Paul Bass contributed reporting.
We can have this, but not red light cameras to calm traffic and catch people running red lights?
How do red light cameras "disproportionately affect minorities", but this doesn't?