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Downtown cameras give Naperville cops 'better pictures to work with'

Five parts of downtown Naperville are now under the watchful eye of a dozen new surveillance cameras.

The police department had the cameras installed to replace outdated ones that were at least 10 years old and no longer providing a clear enough picture to aid in investigations, Deputy Chief Jason Arres said.

"The goal is to get a clearer picture of what's going on during different incidents," he said, "and that's what these cameras offer us - higher quality imagery."

The $116,930 cameras have been installed at Chicago Avenue and Main Street, Chicago Avenue and Washington Street, Jefferson Avenue and Main Street, Jefferson Avenue and Washington Street and at the Chicago Avenue parking deck facing south to see the River Square shopping center. Contractor Pace Systems of Naperville installed the cameras after the city council approved a contract in the fall.

The new technology joins a system of 66 total cameras trained on the downtown for security and surveillance. The majority of the cameras are at city-owned parking garages - 25 at the Van Buren Avenue deck, 23 at the new Water Street deck that opened in November and seven at the Chicago Avenue deck. The remaining 11 are at intersections.

Arres said the clearer images will help investigators better identify suspects and suspicious vehicles based on their clothing, facial features, physical characteristics and/or license plate numbers.

The cameras connect via Wi-Fi to a city video management system, which allows police to review the footage during investigations.

Arres said the new cameras already could come in handy as officers probe the actions of a few people in a crowd of 100 last weekend at Bar Louie. The bar, in the River Square shopping center where one of the new cameras is trained, was the site of a disturbance that led to a sergeant being hit in the head with a bottle and officers from three other departments being called to disperse the mob.

"It gives us better pictures to work with," Arres said.

Naperville's top crash intersections

Naperville police statistics show these 10 intersections saw the most crashes in 2016:

1. Route 59 and North Aurora Road: 102

2. 75th Street and Naper Boulevard: 71

3. 75th Street and Washington Street: 63

4. Route 59 and 111th Street/Hassert Boulevard: 59

5. Aurora Avenue and Ogden Avenue: 55

6. 75th Street and Book Road: 53

6. Route 59 and I-88: 53

8. Route 59 and Diehl Road: 47

9. Ogden Avenue and Naper Boulevard: 45

10. 75th Street and Naperville/Plainfield Road/Rickert Drive: 43

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