Rutherford residents may find themselves on camera in some unexpected places soon. In addition to the cameras that have become customary in banks, in convenience stores, in supermarkets and at ATMs, people could be watched even as they sit in the gazebo in Lincoln Park or walk down the stairs in the Kip Garage.
These last two locations are two of the places the mayor and council are in the early stages of considering installing video cameras to help deter vandalism. The Kip Garage and the gazebo in Lincoln Park are among the more frequently targeted spots in the borough.
"They’re problem areas," said DPW superintendent Chris Seidler. The gazebo, which has a railing along the sides with a series of cedar spindles, is frequently targeted. Police and DPW workers frequently find spindles kicked or broken loose. Seidler said the DPW replaced between 40 and 50 spindles last year, at a cost of about five dollars each, not including the man hours required for the constant repairs.
"We have a considerable amount of damage there all the time," said Captain Joseph Merli of the Rutherford Police Department. Patrol officers check the gazebo each night and each morning at the beginning of their shifts. Merli said there have been about 290 police reports involving the gazebo in the past three and half years.
The Kip Parking Garage originally had time-delay cameras that could be monitored from police headquarters. However, the cameras were of limited usefulness, according to Merli, because they only captured one frame at a time. Unless someone stayed in one location for a while, by the time police saw images that suggested criminal mischief, the offender could be long gone. Merli said he hadn’t spoken with Councilman Joseph Sommer yet about the cameras, but that he thought at least five cameras (one for each floor) would be necessary.
"I hope [Sommer] follows up on it because it would be a good idea," said Merli.
Seidler said there have been a number of vandalism problems in the garage. People regularly break the panes of glass on the elevator door, urinate in the elevator itself and break or spray paint the walls. Seidler said the DPW ends up having to clean the garage four times per week, frequently painting over or power-washing away graffiti.
Seidler said the DPW and the Rutherford Downtown Partnership (RDP) have been talking about the possibility for cameras in the garage for a while. Robin Reenstra-Bryant, the RDP manager, said the matter has been under discussion in general terms but that it hasn’t yet been brought forward to the RDP’s board of trustees. She was hesitant as to how many cameras would be needed and how much of the expense the RDP would shoulder.
