Leechburg police seek help to add cameras
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Leechburg police say they are at a dangerous disadvantage.
Officers in their basement office can’t see who is ringing a bell or knocking on the locked entrance door upstairs. The door doesn’t have a window so they can’t see out even when on the stairway.
But technology can fix that and also better protect citizens and business, police Chief Jason Schaeffer said.
He’s asking businesses to help the department pay for a surveillance camera linked to an intercom that would be installed at the police station door.
The move would be the first step in an overall plan to add cameras along the borough’s busy Market Street business corridor.
Such a plan, though, could cost about $4,000.
In the meantime, Schaeffer said the camera at the police station entrance plus an additional one on the borough building would provide a view of the outside of the Sunoco convenience store/gas station across the street at Market and First streets.
That store has been robbed several times. Three of four robberies have been solved, Schaeffer said.
The same surveillance camera also would show the intersection at Market and First streets. It would show people going up First Street headed toward Leechburg Area schools and drivers entering or leaving the borough.
Schaeffer hopes the surveillance camera can demonstrate the value of having other cameras along the Market Street corridor.
Keith Fetterman, who is co-owner of Fox’s Pizza and the uniform shop next to the Sunoco, likes the idea.
“They should have cameras around the borough building,” Fetterman said. “I’d like to see them every 100 to 200 yards.”
Sprankle’s Market owner Doug Sprankle thinks a community fundraiser could supplement donations from businesses.
“Other communities have cameras, and so should Leechburg,” Sprankle said.
Councilman Alan Tarr, a retired borough police chief, also endorses the plan for cameras.
“It’s the way of the world,” Tarr said. “Every advantage that we can get for our officers is good.”
Councilman Chuck Pascal supports adding a camera at the police station door but generally doesn’t like surveillance cameras.
“I’m not a fan of Big Brother,” the attorney said.
Still, Pascal said he will accept use of a camera for a specific purpose for a specific area and length of time, he said.
Mayor Wayne Dobos, who oversees the police department, said he has worked with Schaeffer to flesh out the idea.
“We put in a door without glass for security. Now, we’re upgrading,” Dobos said.
“As the money comes in, we will put cameras at least the length of Market Street,” the mayor said.
He said many business owners have contributed and some are talking about a fundraiser.
“It’s heart-warming to see that response by the business owners,” he said.
Schaeffer said he is searching for grant money to add to the money raised in the borough.