From left, Sam Teresi, Jamestown mayor, and Harry Snellings, Jamestown Police Department chief and city public safety director, with the new mobile wireless video surveillance system that will be used for the first time during the 2019 Christmas Parade and Holiday Celebration Friday. The mobile security camera was purchased earlier this year to assist the Jamestown Police Department during community events, like the Christmas parade. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

There will be an extra “eye in the sky” to ensure everyone attending the Jamestown 2019 Christmas Parade and Holiday Celebration Friday is being nice and not naughty.

On Wednesday, Sam Teresi, Jamestown mayor, and Harry Snellings, Jamestown Police Department chief and city public safety director, announced that the new mobile wireless video surveillance system will be used for the first time during the annual parade, which starts at 5 p.m. with live music from For the People at Tracy Plaza. The parade is scheduled to reach the plaza around 6:30 p.m.

Snellings said the new mobile surveillance camera will be stationed at the corner of Third and Spring streets during the parade.

“We want to center it where there will be a large group of people,” he said.

Teresi said the $27,000 security camera was approved for purchase by the Jamestown City Council in August. He said they received the camera at the end of September. Snellings said they tested the camera a couple of times and now it’s ready to be deployed during the parade.

“It will see its first live action at a community event,” Teresi said.

Snellings said the Jamestown Police Department already has use of set cameras throughout the downtown, but the mobile device will provide more flexibility during community events. He said police department officials will use the new security device, along with the other cameras already in operation, when an emergency call is received by department personnel. He added that the cameras are useful in relaying real-time information to officers on the scene.

“We’re not spying on people,” Snellings said about the use of the cameras. “It’s just another safety measure to have in place.”

The camera is situated on a mobile trailer, with an arm that can extended the camera 20 feet into the air. He said police department officials can use their smart phones and laptops to link to the surveillance camera. He also said the camera’s video feed can be seen, along with the rest of the cameras in the downtown, at the police department’s command center. He added that the department’s security cameras have provided key pieces of evidence in past arrest cases.

Along with the camera, the new security device will also have a speaker system. Snellings said it can be used to provide information to people around the mobile security camera during an emergency situation.

Funding for the camera came from the city’s 2019 contingency budget and proceeds from police department local drug seizures.