Sea Isle to Add Surveillance Cameras to Promenade

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Sea Isle City plans to use a video surveillance system beginning this summer that will include 13 cameras placed along the busiest parts of the oceanfront Promenade. City Council approved a $195,693 contract Tuesday with the security firm New Jersey Business Systems of Robbinsville, N.J., for surveillance cameras linked directly to the Sea Isle Police Department. “These cameras will assist the police department in keeping the city safe, and they’re just another tool we’re using to best monitor large crowds, as well as helping to hold those who would do harm to people or property accountable for their actions,” Mayor Leonard Desiderio told the Council members at a meeting. Police particularly want to keep an eye on the Promenade during the bustling summer tourism season, when the popular walkway is crowded with visitors and there are concerns about unruly teenagers causing trouble at night. “As we’ve discussed before, we want everyone to enjoy their time in Sea Isle; and all we’re looking for is respectful behavior,” Desiderio said. Mayor Leonard Desiderio, left, and City Business Administrator George Savastano look over the proposed locations for the surveillance cameras. Like other shore towns, Sea Isle dealt with an outbreak of rowdy teens who disrupted parts of the 2021 summer vacation season with foul language, underage drinking, vandalism and theft. The city responded by increasing the number of police patrols on the Promenade and closing off the pathways to the beach at 10 p.m. to prevent large groups of teens from gathering together. On Feb. 11, Desiderio hosted a summit in Sea Isle with Cape May County representatives and state lawmakers to consider a series of preemptive measures ranging from new local ordinances to new state legislation to curb rowdy behavior. Surveillance cameras are another preemptive step. Sea Isle plans to have the surveillance system in place by the summer to watch over the Promenade and other places in town popular with teens. Capt. Anthony Garreffi, the officer in charge of the police department, said police will have direct access to the video feed at all times and it will be recorded. “This is another tool for the police department to use for different reasons. We do not believe that it will ‘prevent’ rowdy behavior. We are expecting the cameras to deter certain behaviors,” Garreffi said in an email. This light pole overlooking the Promenade at JFK Boulevard includes a surveillance camera that was tested by the city. The 13 cameras planned for the Promenade will be installed from 35th Street to 44th Street, the most popular section of the walkway because of the retail shops, eateries, arcades and an outdoor bar all concentrated within that area. In 2020, the city brightened up the same section of the Promenade with new lighting to improve safety. Decorative light poles reminiscent of Victorian-style lamps were placed between 35th and 44th streets at a cost of $843,000. The new lights between 35th and 44th streets are the first phase of a more extensive relighting of the Promenade that will eventually stretch the entire length of the walkway from 29th to 57th streets, city officials say. City officials have been discussing plans to add surveillance cameras to the Promenade for the past five years. “We were thinking about this before the juveniles,” City Business Administrator George Savastano said, referring to the rowdy teens in 2021. In addition to the Promenade, the city plans to install two surveillance cameras at the municipal playground on John F. Kennedy Boulevard, another popular place for teens. Savastano said at least one camera will also be installed along the Landis Avenue corridor in the downtown business district. He indicated it probably will be placed near the Wawa store at the corner of Landis and 38th Street. Last summer, there were complaints to City Council and on social media about disruptive teenagers hanging out at Wawa. The city is also considering placing a surveillance camera near the Wawa store at the corner of 38th Street and Landis Avenue.