Waukesha - Police-operated cameras will soon keep watch over the historic downtown shopping and entertainment district.
Waukesha, which is contending with fights and other problems as it seeks to transform its downtown into an area of trendy stores and nightlife, is one of the first communities outside of Milwaukee and Racine to install police-monitored cameras.
"More than anything, I believe the cameras will be a deterrent," said Roger Igielski, a downtown business owner. "The cameras will cause people to behave better. It'll help identify some people who are misbehaving. That would be good."
Problems downtown with drunkenness, minor robberies, fighting and drugs usually happen after midnight, when regular customers have left downtown, Igielski said.
"I think most of the people who come downtown are good people, and the cameras will help them be good people," Igielski said. "I've heard people say there's an intrusion of privacy with the cameras. The way I look at it is if you're behaving yourself, you have nothing to worry about. We just want people to behave and respect the property down here."
Igielski, who operates Allo! Chocolat, is president of two merchant and property owners groups - the Business Improvement District and the Downtown Business Association.
Police Capt. Mark Stigler said the Project Opti-Cop program is researching installation and system layout for three cameras - one at the Five Points intersection, one at Maple and Main streets, and one at the intersection of Broadway, Clinton and Madison streets. The cameras could be in place this summer, he said
Racine has five cameras mounted in potential crime areas outside of its downtown.
With powerful lenses and motion-sensing capabilities, the cameras provide police with clear day and night views of pedestrian activities and facial views, Stigler said.
Most Police Department computers will be equipped for live viewing of downtown cameras. Public access will not be available but could be considered later, Stigler said.
"What's really important is the cameras will run 24/7," Stigler said. "If someone calls us with a complaint, we can look at transmissions and rotate cameras to see what's going on before squads arrive."
In Racine, Police Sgt. Bernie Kupper said the cameras have yet to solve a major crime but in the future could be "retroactive witnesses" that provide evidence for court.
Waukesha is expecting to spend $56,000 for two cameras and related equipment and plans to tap federal funds for a third camera. Stigler and the city's Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry also have applied for state money for four separate cameras to monitor areas in Frame Park on both sides of the Fox River.