They don't shoot bullets or lasers, but Bayonne is confident that the closed-circuit surveillance cameras they're now preparing to install will help protect several of the city's key east side industries.
Mayor Joseph V. Doria Jr. said yesterday that the Avrio Group, of Easton, Md., working under a city contract awarded earlier this year, has begun assembling the infrastructure that will support a wireless digital security camera network.
"Initially, we're looking at 20 cameras over the next two to three months," Police Chief Robert Kubert said. "The first camera should be ready in about a month."
The city is using $119,574 in federal Homeland Security grants, a $104,215 federal Department of Justice Forfeiture Fund grant and a $90,000 city capital bond to finance the project which, Doria said, could grow to provide for as many as 100 cameras.
For now, Kubert said, the primary focus will be on local industries but, down the road, various city agencies would look to tap into the system to protect public facilities like parks, playgrounds and utilities. Another possibility, he said, is using local Urban Enterprise Zone revenues to buy additional cameras - at $10,000 per set - to cover local businesses.
Kubert said that monitors digitally linked to the surveillance system would be installed in the police communications center to allow police personnel to track any suspicious activities.
