Berkeley Police to Expand Camera Network

Berkeley police will expand its network of eyes on the sky in the months to come.

The township council this week approved an ordinance on first reading which allow cameras to be placed on the water tower at the Berkeley Township Municipal Utilities Authority site off Route 9.

The cameras will be placed on the tower to help police monitor traffic entering and exiting the Manitou Park area near the border with South Toms River, said Chief Karin T. DiMichele.

"If an incident does occur, we will be able to go back into the data and obtain any information needed," DiMichele said.

The department had planned the cameras to be up and running by early June, however the project got pushed back due to priorities shifting following Superstorm Sandy, DiMichele said. They are now planned to go live in about two months.

Space on the tower will be leased to the township for $1 per year, Mayor Carmen Amato said.

The cameras will be the latest in a network that has been planned since 2011.

The Township Council voted unanimously in Oct. 2011 to award a $569,029 contract to Robbinsville-based New Jersey Business System to begin work on the project. A $500,000 federal grant covered the bulk of the project's costs.