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The Patchogue Village Business Improvement District oversaw the installation of four surveillance cameras in the village in recent months, with the last one going up in August, officials said.
The cameras cover most shopping areas downtown and some of the parking areas.
“We’ve been growing, and there have been broken windows [at the stores] and things like that,” Dennis Smith, the Patchogue BID’s executive director, said of the need for the cameras.
He said Suffolk County police investigators had urged the village to mount cameras to aid in investigations.
So where are the cameras?
There are two BID-operated cameras outside the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts — one in front, another in back — and another at the Four Points intersection at Ocean Avenue and Main Street. There’s a fourth camera in the Church Street parking lot south of West Main Street. There are also private cameras along Main Street.
The four cameras cost the taxing district $10,000 to purchase and install.
Smith said that, ideally, the village would operate closer to 20 cameras, with more being placed downtown as well as other areas, such as in the village parks.
He also envisions getting Patchogue Village code enforcement officers trained to manage and track the cameras during busier times downtown, such as when people leave the bars during early morning hours.
This way, there can be a quicker response to any signs of trouble, such as a crowd gathering, he said.
Photo: The camera at the southeast corner of Main Street and Ocean Avenue. (Credit: Michael White)
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