DANVILLE, IL (Chambana Today) – The City of Danville heard public concern for safety, particularly in City Parks, and this week, approved the installation of 30 surveillance cameras in all public parks in town, to help curb recent problems, most recently at Winter Park.
“Police Chief (Chris) Yates personally told me directly that this is due to community response and feedback, they asked for additional security in the parks and that has caused for a bigger push towards something already in the works for the last six to eight months. With the ongoing situations, we’ve moved up the timeline and made some sacrifices to make this happen, to hopefully satisfy some of the concerns and give the community what they’re asking for,” said City of Danville Community Relations Administrator, Rheanna Ollis.
Earlier this year, vandalism was rampant at Winter Park and in June, an 18-year-old was killed after several shots were fired during an event, hurting two other teens at that Park.
The City will be spending around $330,000 for the cameras that have a 10-year service plan. Ollis says that other equipment the City has will go back and a credit will be given to help offset cost. In addition, the Police Department and Public Works Departments will be purchasing fewer new squad cars this year and Public Works will scale back on things like park projects that are not immediately needed, to help fund the cameras and provide more safety to the community.
“By doing this, we’re not saying that our Parks are unsafe, but we want to put extra protection out there to make our community feel more protected, and if something does happen, we are prepared to act and apprehend those, when needed,” Ollis said.
Ollis added that the new cameras are very sophisticated and will be able to read license plates and all cameras and have motion detecting sensors. Footage will not only be monitored through the City and Police Departments, but they will also be readily available to County and State entities immediately as well. Local Police officers will have the ability to instantaneously see any movement from their patrol cars and can immediately check on any activity seen on camera.
Parks will also be closing earlier and locked up with newly installed gates, unless special permits have been obtained for other use.
Cameras will be installed within four to six months, with the Public Works Department completing the project rather than out-sourcing to help keep costs within limits.