Irwin police pushing to install new surveillance cameras on Main Street
IRWIN, Pa. (KDKA) — An extra set of eyes could soon be on the streets of downtown Irwin.
The police department said it is pushing to install surveillance cameras that could be monitored by officers 24/7. Police Chief Dan Wensel told KDKA-TV that city council gave him the green light to begin looking into the cameras this week.
"There's cameras pretty much everywhere now and, we want to be again proactive in this fight against crime and also public safety," Wensel said.
Wensel said he is looking at cameras with a 360-degree views and hopes to install up to three on Main Street.
"We can get five to 10,000 people down here, so you need those extra eyes those nights," said Chrys Sebula, owner of Curious Cat in Irwin.
Irwin's borough manager said it hosts more than 30 events throughout the year, with some bringing in thousands of people.
"We have six officers here, and that's a lot of people to be watching. So it's very helpful for us to use those," said Shari Martino, Irwin's borough manager.
Wensel said his officers would be able to view the cameras from their station or out in the field from their phones.
"It's not big brother trying to spy on anybody. It's just an after-the-fact situation, if there was an incident down here that we can investigate," Wensel said.
He said the Latrobe Police Department has over 60 cameras installed and isn't the only department with surveillance cameras.
Wensel said while Irwin does not have a high crime rate, the cameras could help with other incidents, including crashes.
"We have a lot of pedestrian traffic as well," he said. "They cross the street and you can see we have numerous signs throughout the street, but you know, pedestrians have the right away in the crosswalk. Unfortunately, drivers at times don't yield to that they come through here, and so we've had some minor incident."
The mayor told KDKA-TV the cameras would benefit the public's safety.
"You have crime everywhere. We're not a big city like Pittsburgh or whatever but we do have crime. So we're looking into things so we can curb that as much as we can," Mayor Jeffrey Clem said.
The chief said he hopes to have three cameras installed as early as spring.
"This is just an extra set of eyes for us and for the public down here," Wensel said.
