PORT ANGELES — More than three years after they first were proposed, the city is preparing to install security cameras at three parks this summer.
A fourth might be installed at the transfer station being built at the Port Angeles Landfill site at the end of West 16th Street.
The city’s 2006 capital improvement plan includes $80,000 under Police Department projects to install three security cameras at Francis Street Park, City Pier and Erickson Playfield, including the Dream Playground and Port Angeles Skate Park.
A public hearing on the city’s 2006-2012 Transportation Improvement Plan and Capital Facilities Plan, which includes the proposed cameras, is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers at City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St.
The public hearing will be continued until the June 20 meeting.
“One of the advantages is it is a deterrent,” said Police Chief Tom Riepe of the security cameras.
The cameras will have software and technology similar to those being placed in schools, he said.
Not constantly monitored
The images from them won’t be monitored, but the computer software will allow officers to locate the date and time of vandalism or other crimes at the park sites, Riepe said.
“It’s really documentation. They won’t be monitored on a regular basis,” he said.
But eventually, mobile data computers will be installed in the city’s police cars to allow officers to see what’s happening via the cameras, Riepe said.
“This has been one of the City Council’s goals because we have a lot of investment, and we want people to enjoy our parks and feel we’re doing a good job about security,” he said.
