By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
There’s something that people will probably want to know when they’re walking around the most popular places of Sea Isle City this summer: Someone may be watching them.
The police department will be keeping an eye on things with the help of 16 new surveillance cameras installed along the Promenade, the downtown bar district and at a municipal playground.
Police particularly want to watch over the Promenade during the bustling summer tourism season, when the oceanfront walkway is crowded with visitors and there are concerns about unruly teenagers causing trouble at night.
“It’s another tool, absolutely,” Police Chief Anthony Garreffi said of the cameras being part of Sea Isle’s broader strategy for preventing groups of teens and young adults from disrupting the town.
Garreffi said in an interview Tuesday that he hopes the security company that is supplying the cameras under a $195,693 contract with the city will have them installed by the end of February.
Sea Isle plans to have the surveillance system completely ready for the summer. The cameras will provide a live feed directly to the police department and will operate on a 24-hour basis.
Garreffi stressed that police will also take a more proactive approach toward protecting the city from troublesome teens or adults.
“We’re not going to be sitting in front of the screen watching it all of the time,’’ he said of the surveillance video. “We’ll be out on the Promenade, too. We feel that being out on the Promenade is a better deterrent than watching the cameras. The cameras are there for our investigations.”
Chief Anthony Garreffi says the surveillance cameras will be "another tool" for the Sea Isle City Police Department.
There will be 10 cameras installed along the Promenade from 35th to 44th streets, the most popular section of the walkway because of the retail shops, eateries, arcades and an outdoor bar all concentrated within that area.
Four more cameras are planned along the Landis Avenue corridor at the intersections of John F. Kennedy Boulevard, 40th Street, 39th Street and 38th Street, Garreffi said. This section of Landis Avenue serves as the heart of the downtown bar district, retail shops and dining areas.
The same area includes a Wawa store at the corner of 38th Street and Landis. Complaints have been made to city officials and on social media about disruptive teenagers hanging out at Wawa.
In addition, there will be two cameras installed at the basketball courts and playground complex along JFK Boulevard. It is another popular hangout for teens.
Sea Isle has already been given a test run of the cameras by its security contractor, New Jersey Business Systems of Robbinsville, N.J., during a demonstration of a similar system in operation at the beach town of Point Pleasant.
Sea Isle had originally planned to have the cameras ready for the summer of 2022, but supply chain troubles caused by the pandemic led to delays, Garreffi said.
“I just hope to get them in sooner than later,” he said.
This light pole overlooking the Promenade at JFK Boulevard included a surveillance camera that was tested by the city in 2022.
Like other shore towns, Sea Isle dealt with an outbreak of rowdy teens who disrupted parts of the 2021 and 2022 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.
Mayor Leonard Desiderio hosted a summit in Sea Isle last year 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 for cracking down on troublemakers. Garreffi said there will be signs posted on the Promenade and around town letting people know that the cameras are in use.
“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,” Desiderio said in a statement.
Desiderio announced at a City Council meeting Jan. 24 that Sea Isle is drafting new local laws to give police more power to prevent rowdy teenagers from disrupting the vital summer tourism season.
He plans to unveil the new laws in February and have them approved by City Council by March, all with the hope of stopping large groups of unruly juveniles and young adults from gathering on the beaches, the Promenade and other parts of town at night.
The city plans to place a surveillance camera near the Wawa store at the corner of 38th Street and Landis Avenue.
