Thursday, October 1, 2026
To strengthen public safety, the Village of Lawrence is developing a network of 160 security cameras throughout the community. The system, officials say, will operate on a secure intranet network rather than a cellular network, allowing for faster and more reliable real-time data transmission.
Village officials described the camera system as the first of its kind in Nassau County. The project is estimated to cost $250,000, with most of the funding coming from Nassau County grants that are part of a larger $1.2 million allocation secured by the village for capital improvements. The proposal — approved unanimously at a Feb. 19 board meeting — will move forward following a procurement process. It is expected to be operational upon purchasing the cameras.
Since January 2024, the Nassau County Public Information Office has recorded 68 major crimes in the village and the greater Lawrence area.
The cameras — equipped with advanced license plate readers — will connect to both Village Hall, on Central Avenue, and Nassau County Police Department Headquarters, on Franklin Avenue in Mineola.
In a news release, Mayor Samuel Nahmias stated that the initiative comes in response to a rise in criminal incidents — including the latest, the discovery of a swastika etched into a glass pane at the Inwood train station on May 6 — and will be paired with increased police patrols.
“We take safety and security very seriously here,” Nahmias wrote. “These cameras and their integration ensure rapid coordination with law enforcement to deter crime and assist in identifying and apprehending perpetrators.”
The initiative drew criticism from Tzvi Kay, who lives on Doughty Boulevard — the last street on Lawrence’s western border with Queens. “There have been a lot of car break-ins and other nasty stuff going on around there,” Kay said at the village meeting on April 30.
He offered officials what he said was a vehicle sighting analysis from public records using Flock Safety A.I. cameras. He said he had needed $30 and his license plate number to obtain the information.
Kay said that while he wouldn’t mind the extra security that cameras would provide, other residents might not share that sentiment. He added that he had found that many security camera companies make a profit by selling information gathered from cameras.
“I don’t want anyone in the village to have their house broken into,” Kay said, “but these cameras don’t just record cars. They’re fully capable of recording people and your voice.”
Nahmias assured residents that the village would not selling information to private companies, and that privacy protocols would be established for the data. He added that many police departments do not use cameras with the services Kay mentioned.
“We are going to own our own cameras because we are government,” Nahmias said.
Village Trustee Steven Gottesman noted that residents who are victims of crimes often ask for camera footage, and that camera vendors that sell or distribute information would be eliminated from their search.
“Anything that is caught on camera will be stored,” Nahmias said. “However, that data, from a crime or not, will be read [during] a certain window. It’s not a year-long recording, and it will get deleted after a certain period.”
The Nassau County Police Department declined to comment. Additional details are expected to be announced at an upcoming news conference.
