By Jeff Lipton
A home invasion in the village on May 4, when three robbers, one armed with a handgun, roused a couple from their sleep, tied them up in their bedroom and ransacked their home, has terrorized residents and village officials. The home invasion - the fourth in the Five Towns since December - sparked a meeting at the home of Lawrence village Trustee Martin Oliner on May 24, which was attended by Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, County Police Commissioner James Lawrence and Fourth Precinct Inspector Richard McGuire.
In addition, cars have also been broken into and items removed from them.
Neighbors in Lawrence and North Woodmere have established neighborhood watches in response to the crime wave. Suozzi suggested the village create a five-person task force that will meet with police and county government on a regular basis to brainstorm ideas to help prevent crime. In the meantime, police have re-instituted officers on bicycle patrols and upped police coverage by undercover and uniformed cops in Lawrence and other Five Towns communities.
One of the anti-crime proposals discussed was the possible installation of security cameras in Lawrence. Last Friday, Oliner unveiled a map he developed, detailing 18 strategic locations in the village where security cameras could be placed. The locations include along Nassau Expressway (Route 878) - at Rock Hall Road, Westover Place, Broadway and Central Avenue. The railroad tracks would also get coverage from the cameras, with plans to install them at Lawrence Avenue, Rockaway Turnpike and Washington Avenue. Under the plan, the cameras would also be installed on Washington Avenue at Central Avenue and at Broadway. Broadway would also receive coverage, with cameras proposed for Sealy Drive, Waverly Place, Cedarhurst Avenue, Berkley Place and Copper Beech Lane.
"No one will enter or leave the village of Lawrence without being photographed," said Oliner. "If a car exits or enters the village at 1 or 2 in the morning, we can figure out who it is."
Oliner said the cameras will be kept on 24 hours a day and the video may be stored for up to a month, since some residents may be away during that period of time and may not know if their home was burglarized until they return. The cameras will not be used for any other purposes, such as to catch traffic violators, Oliner said. The images on the camera will only be inspected if a crime is committed, he added.
The village trustee said the proposal is still in its infant stages and the logistics and cost of implementing such a plan still need to be worked out. But Oliner did say that he hoped the project would be funded by a county and state grant. The plan has been presented to the county, which will be in charge of implementing it, Oliner said. The county did not return phone calls for comment.
Barbara Bernstein, executive director of the Nassau chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said she has major reservations about the installation of security cameras on public streets and called Lawrence's plan "troubling."
"It's a problem," Bernstein said. "Cameras are going up all over the place. It's just another case of 'Big Brother is watching you' for everyone in the village. If you know that for 24 hours a day these cameras will keep track of your ingress and egress from the village, it's emotionally and psychologically disturbing."
She added that when residents leave their home, they have a presumption of anonymity, which is violated when their every move is being recorded by a camera.
The use of security cameras has raised Constitutional issues elsewhere, such as in the Town of Huntington in Suffolk County, where a legislator proposed installing cameras in downtown Huntington village, which is the biggest shopping district in the township. The proposal was made early this year in response to a student who was stabbed by another student, town officials said. "The proposal is in limbo because a few people expressed concern with it," said Don McKay, a town spokesman. "We support it as a cost-effective means of increasing security in the shopping district."
Simon Felder, Lawrence village deputy mayor and police commissioner, said the use of cameras are acceptable in certain municipalities such as New York City. He said the idea and its Constitutional issues are still being studied. "If there are major legal questions that would precipitate legal challenges, I certainly would want to know about them," said Felder.
In developing the idea, the village will make use of the latest in technology. Oliner said it could make use of the wi-fi system, with wireless cable transmissions, computers and the Internet. The proposal may also make use of telephone poles and wires leading to the police department.
"This is still very preliminary," said Oliner. "We're just floating ideas right now."
He said such a program could be implemented in other areas of the Five Towns and elsewhere.
He said if the proposal is given the go-ahead, he hoped to have it in place in Lawrence within six to 12 months.
Comments about this story? Jlipton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 204.
