The Palm Beach Police & Fire Foundation is giving the town up to $700,000 to finance an accelerated expansion of the townwide camera surveillance and license plate recognition program.
Rebecca Godwin, the foundation’s president and chief operating officer, announced the donation at the Town Council’s August 13 meeting.
“We are honored and excited to participate in this project and we believe it will make a significant impact on the safety and well-being of residents in the town of Palm Beach,” she said.
Police Captain Will Rothrock told the Palm Beach Civic Association the town has already received an initial donation from the foundation.
“We are working towards additional cameras in locations throughout town where gaps in coverage previously existed, as well as increasing our camera-related software capabilities,” Rothrock said.
The camera system has been in operation for decades and has proven effective in assisting with crime prevention and resolution, Rothrock said.
This latest upgrade will enable residents and business owners to selectively share their own publicly facing surveillance systems with the police department, he said.
“This program will be a game changer when fully implemented and is an exciting opportunity for us to connect with our community towards a common goal,” Rothrock said.
The Police & Fire Foundation was incorporated in 2006 as the Palm Beach Police Foundation with the primary goal of providing scholarships for the children of police officers. It later expanded its scope to include the Fire-Rescue Department, and its range of benefits to include benefits to include education, equipment and the promotion of a robust retention program for employees of the two public safety departments, Godwin said.
“We hope to work alongside you and the town to do many more projects,” she told the council.
The Police & Fire Foundation’s grant allocation committee, made up of John Scarpa, Tim Moran and Jeff Marcus, coordinated with Police Chief Nicholas Caristo, Major John Scanlon and Lt. David Watson on the camera surveillance enhancement project, Godwin said.
Scarpa and Tim Moran are co-founders of the Police & Fire Foundation and its board chairman and vice chairman, respectively.
Scarpa is also a Palm Beach Civic Association director and a member of the non-profit organization’s Executive Committee.
In an interview Tuesday, Scarpa said there are more than 180 surveillance cameras operating in town, about 80 percent of which were installed with Police & Fire Foundation funds.
The $700,000 will be used to replace older cameras that are reaching the end of their service life, Scarpa said. It will also enable the town to add cameras in areas that need additional surveillance, including the Lake Trail and throughout the North End.
The new cameras and license plate readers are far more technologically advanced than the existing ones, he said.
“They will enable the police and fire-rescue to zero in on any type of issue that may happen throughout the town,” Scarpa said.
Mayor Danielle Moore said the town is blessed to be the recipient of donations from the Police & Fire Foundation.
“The foundation continues to provide equipment that will enhance the safety of the island of Palm Beach both for residents and businesses,” she said. “We are ever grateful for their continued generosity.”
To receive Palm Beach TV, Our Town News, The Civic and more in your inbox sign up HERE.
Our Town sponsored by:
