Council steps up effort to monitor crime hot spots

Advance correspondent BRISTOL BOROUGH - Here’s lookin’ at ya, drug dealers, trespassers, wanna-be vandals and would-be thieves. The Bristol Borough council is bumping up its camera action, some of which is already in place to monitor trouble areas in town. And some sites could come under the watchful eye of borough residents via the government channel, said Council President Ralph DiGuiseppe.

Borough officials are considering installing cameras in all areas of the Mill Run site at Pond Street and Wilson Avenue, a currently vacant, five-story building recently bought by the borough with an eye toward development. That could be the beginning of “an experiment” to link the cameras to Channel 965. The idea behind the proposed broadcast is that residents who see trouble happening could call the police, DiGuiseppe said.

Or better yet, the surveillance could discourage criminal activity.

“We could experiment with Mill Run to see how it works and maybe later consider linking [camera surveillance] to the Ts from other sites,” the council president said at the Sept. 5 council work session.

Other areas could include the playgrounds scattered around town that have been, at times, a magnet for vandals or a hangout for older kids. Another sore spot is the dugout area of the baseball field at Memorial cield on gefferson Avenue. Councilman Tony Devine told the council that druggies are using the dugouts to “shoot up,” and then littering the area with dirty needles.

Devine said his fear was that children from the nearby playground, or young players using the ball field, could get hurt from one of the needles. While surveillance from cameras already installed at the ball field has been spotty because of malfunctions, the problems will be corrected to enable police to shine a brighter light on illegal activity, said borough Police Chief Arnie Porter.

Since ganuary, police cars have been equipped with computers that allow them to monitor activity at various locations in town where cameras are installed. Some cameras are permanent fixtures, others are portable and are moved from one area to another during shifts.

In response to questions about the legality of video surveillance, DiGuiseppe said that he believes that the borough has a right to monitor its own properties. Borough Solicitor Bill Salerno said he would research privacy issues.

Another continuing issue revolves around the cyclone fencing installed last winter by Amtrack along the railroad tracks on Garden Street, across from residential homes. The area now looks as bad as residents feared it would because towering weeds and trapped debris create an eyesore, said Councilman Patrick Sabatini.

In addition, several of the trees planted by Amtrak in an attempt to soften the view are dead or dying, the councilman said.

“Are people in the North Ward stuck with this?” Sabatini asked. “What we have are well-kept homes on one side of the street and a jungle on the other side. This is something we’ll have to keep an eye on.”