Arnold Mayor Shannon Santucci is quick to admit security cameras in the city’s public parks haven’t always stopped crime — but she’s still a proponent of the tool. The city will use a federal Community Development Block Grant, along with a pending $50,000 state grant, to buy additional cameras for Roosevelt Park along Drey Street. The move comes after police have struggled with vandalism and other destruction at the park this summer. Arnold officials were forced to close the park for two weeks in early June after teens dumped garbage cans, damaged the amphitheater and pavilion and tried to tip over a portable toilet. "The cameras haven’t always been helpful to us,” Santucci said. "We need more of them, and they need to be repositioned. We put one on the gate, near the No Trespassing sign, and I think that’s having an impact.” Across the region, police said surveillance cameras have worked as a deterrent and an aid in solving crime. There have been decreased incidents of vandalism and graffiti since Penn Township installed 13 cameras around its municipal building and nearby Municipal Park, said township Secretary/Manager Mary Perez. "It makes our park look better and appear safer if you don’t have graffiti,” Perez said, "and it saves our employees time and aggravation from always having to clean that up.” New cameras were purchased for nearly $10,000 in 2022, Perez said, but cameras have been around the municipal building since before she started working for the township in 2016. With the help of the camera footage, police have been able to track down people who broke into visitors’ cars or vandalised township property. "They’ve been helpful. I’m definitely glad we have them,” Perez said of the cameras. "I would like to see our system expand to further out.” The township plans to discuss allocating funds for more cameras in next year’s budget, Perez said — particularly for areas further away from the municipal building, like the dog park. Chris Fabec, chief of the Southern Armstrong Regional Police Department, said he uses the technology at two of the three communities covered by his department: Freeport and Ford City. Gilpin/Leechburg Park, he said, is county-owned. "I think they’re a really good deterrent,” Fabec said. "We’ve been able to use video footage to identify people involved in things at the parks.” According to the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that conducts economic and social policy research, cameras can be a cost-effective way to deter and document crime. The group said that in large cities, such as Baltimore and Chicago, the cost savings associated with crimes averted by cameras outweighed the expense. A key to success, they said, is to have enough cameras and to monitor them with trained staff. Cameras coming Harrison police Chief Brian Turack is eager for the township to install cameras in Natrona Community Park. He announced the project two weeks ago, the same time police were called to investigate a fight and stabbing at the park’s basketball courts. Turack said the initiative wasn’t driven by that crime, but having the footage would have helped. The technology has been a priority for Turack since taking leadership of the department last year. "Cameras will have a live feed into the station,” he said. "When something happens, we will be able to see it or review it.” Turack applied earlier this year for a $58,000 state grant through the Department of Community and Economic Development for several projects including the cameras. The township commissioners, at their most recent meeting, gave the green light to spending $14,500 on the purchase and installation. Aspinwall officials last fall also launched an effort to boost security at borough parks. Borough Manager Melissa Lang O’Malley said the borough spent about $6,000 on nine cameras from Security Systems of America to be installed at Fireman’s Memorial Park and the recreation area’s ball fields and playgrounds. She said the project was spurred by vandalism that prevented the borough from leaving the playground bathrooms open. Camera footage is accessible in real time to police on their phones and computers, which is an added perk to reviewing recorded footage. Oakmont Chief Michael Ford is such a fan of security cameras in public parks that he’s hoping to land money to expand the borough’s program. "It’s 24/7 eyes on the park, which helps confirm crimes happen,” Ford said. "It’s general overall protection.” Oakmont police were forward-thinking in their use of technology to prevent crime. The borough installed them about a decade ago, Ford said. "It’s in the works to get more,” he said. About 40 to 50 cameras are positioned throughout the facilities at Hempfield Park, said township Manager Aaron Siko. They were installed in 2015. "The cameras were not put in due to any occurrences of vandalism, theft, crime,” Siko said. "They were just installed to make sure we were being proactive about security in the park.” The township plans to install security cameras at its new Weatherwood Park, which is being developed near Route 30 and Mt. Pleasant Road. In addition to deterring criminal activity at Hempfield Park, the security cameras allow township employees to keep an eye on Hempfield facilities, Siko said. "We can check in on crowds at the amphitheater, kind of how the parking lots are looking,” he said. "Additionally, we use the cameras at Hempfield Park and at the municipal building that face the public … roads to give us a second set of eyes on road conditions — especially in the winter months, so we can see how snow is laying on the roads.” Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free. Get Ad-Free > Sign Up for NotificationsStay up-to-date on important news from TribLIVE