An Allentown-based company's $389,804 bid to install seven surveillance cameras in Williamsport passed muster Tuesday with the three members of City Council on the public safety committee.
The committee gave the bid presented by CSI Inc., of Allentown, a positive recommendation and council could take action at its May 17 meeting.
The cameras will be paid for with a $450,000 U.S. Department of Justice grant, but before council votes on the decision, the finance committee also will review the project.
It has been suggested by city police that four of the cameras be mounted in Memorial Park and three in Flanigan Park, which is owned by Lycoming County Housing Authority and lies between Little League Boulevard and Memorial Avenue.
Should additional funding be available, Newberry Park is next on the list for a camera, according to John Grado, director of the city's Department of Community and Economic Development.
City Councilman Don Noviello, a member of the public safety committee, said he has heard concerns about potential vandalism.
"The week they go up they will come down," he said citizens predicted.
Out of 104 cameras in Allentown since installation in 2007, two or three have been broken on purpose, according to Don Marnon, a CSI spokesman.
Mayor Gabriel J. Campana said he will seek another federal grant for more cameras that he would like to see put on streets.
"I want to see them in areas where police believe they are having the most crime," he said.
Marnon noted the cameras have served as a deterrent in other municipalities, and images captured by the cameras can be used when police testify in criminal court.
"It's going to give us a management tool," city Police Chief Gregory A. Foresman said.
