Seaside Heights to Use State Funds to Set Up Town-Wide Security Camera Network

Image from Wikimedia

Seaside Heights will utilize a state fund to set up a $1 million network of security cameras across the borough, which will be linked to the police department.

The borough received a supplemental state grant in 2022 as part of its municipal aid package that was dedicated to increasing security in the borough via a camera network. The $1 million capital outlay will allow the borough to install cameras in various locations, including the boardwalk and side streets, on utility poles, light poles and other infrastructure along the oceanfront and at intersections across town.

“A million dollars gives us a lot of purchasing power, so there will be a lot of cameras,” said Borough Administrator Christopher Vaz.

---

Get Daily Island News Updates Your email address:* Please enter all required fields Correct invalid entries

The police department, Vaz said, has been working with two companies for about six months to prepare a map of where the cameras should be placed. The cameras are not intended to be hidden, but will be placed in areas where the police department has determined they would be best placed. This season, a few test cameras have been installed on poles along the boardwalk, separate from the mobile cameras with flashing lights on them that are temporarily deployed to locations on the boardwalk during the summer.

“There will be cameras on the boardwalk,” said Vaz. “There will be scattered cameras all over town. On intersections, you will see them. The police department has been working with two companies, so they’ve prepared a map of where they want to see the cameras deployed.”

The network of cameras will be installed across town, with the designated area authorized in an ordinance passed Wednesday consisting of Hiering to Porter avenues, from the boardwalk to Barnegat Bay. That area, in reality, constitutes virtually the entire town as it appears on a map.

The $1 million appropriation will allow the police department to contract with one of the firms they have been working with to install the camera network after a second reading and public hearing on the ordinance.

“For the most part, you’ll see them being installed, and you can see them in general,” Vaz said. “On the boardwalk right now, you can see some of the test ones on the boardwalk lights.”