1

CAROL LOLLIS

This camera is mounted on the Three-County Fairgrounds offices in Northampton.

2

CAROL LOLLIS

This camera is mounted on the side of Amazing.net on King Street in Northampton.

3

CAROL LOLLIS

This camera is located under the clock atop the Silverscape Designs building at the corner of King and Main streets in Northampton.

4

CAROL LOLLIS

There are multiple cameras mounted on the side of Amazing.net on King Street in Northampton.

NORTHAMPTON - Over the years, police here have relied on private security cameras to nab people engaged in a variety of criminal acts.

Larcenies top the list, but the use of camera footage recently played a role in the arrest of Anthony P. Baye on charges of arson, murder and armed burglary in connection with a Dec. 27 Fair Street fire that killed two men, according to investigators.

Citing an ongoing investigation, police have declined to reveal what camera or video system captured Baye in the greater downtown area the night 12 vehicles, two homes and a garage were set on fire. But a search warrant affidavit states that in addition to Baye's own admissions, "pole camera observation" was used to peg his whereabouts that night.

"There's a lot of technology out there that's available to people, and we would be remiss to not take advantage of anything that could assist us," Northampton Police Chief Russell P. Sienkiewicz said. "We utilize some private cameras."

Sienkiewicz said the department also uses police surveillance equipment to investigate crimes when necessary and appropriate.

It remains unclear whether police relied on a private security camera or video in the arrest of Baye, but there is evidence to suggest that could be the case.

Until additional information is revealed, perhaps in court, it's also not known how strong a role the camera observation noted in the affidavit played in connecting Baye with the fire at 17 Fair St.

Baye was questioned separately by Northampton and state police in the Crescent Street area in the early morning hours Dec. 27. He also was captured on Northampton Police Department cruiser camera video, police records show.

In the days prior to Baye's arrest, police sought to review camera footage from at least two locations, including the downtown parking garage and from the offices of the Daily Hampshire Gazette on Conz Street.

While some area cities - including Springfield and Holyoke - have cameras installed in their downtowns, it's unlikely that Baye was captured on any permanent municipal or police-operated camera installation because, with a few exceptions, they just don't exist in Northampton, according to Sienkiewicz.

"I don't have, as part of the Police Department's daily operations, video surveillance watching the comings and goings of people," Sienkiewicz said. "We have not put that in place, as a matter of regular operational policy."

Apart from the parking garage, the only other known surveillance cameras operated by the city exist at Northampton High School. Those cameras have been helpful in investigating and preventing vandalism, according to David Pomerantz, director of the city's Central Services Department. "We've got some cameras here and there around the high school, but that's the extent of surveillance cameras on any buildings, city or school side," Pomerantz said. "They're fairly hidden. I think if you knew what you were looking for, you'd see them."

A few years ago, surveillance cameras at the downtown parking garage were instrumental in catching a group of youths spray painting graffiti on the building.

A walk through the downtown finds private cameras everywhere, from the exteriors and interiors of banks and automated cash machines to a variety of restaurants and retail establishments. At least eight wall and ceiling cameras point in all directions inside the U.S. Post Office on Bridge Street.

In addition to the many private cameras downtown, there are state-sponsored Webcams monitoring traffic in the area, including in Northampton's downtown. And it's likely there are other cameras in public that aren't visible to the untrained eye.

Sienkiewicz said most people install camera systems for their own protection - and most people coming and going in public shouldn't have an expectation of privacy. Camera observation in public is legal, though audio recordings require two-party consent under state law.

"What can be observed by the eye can be observed by video," Sienkiewicz said. "It's a deterrent. Things to catch people who do bad things."

Cameras elsewhere

In neighboring Easthampton, city-run surveillance cameras are installed - for public safety aims - on public buildings and at facilities, though not elsewhere, according to Easthampton Mayor Michael A. Tautznik.

"We have lots of surveillance equipment, but nothing intended to watch people," Tautznik said. "In my mind, it would be kind of unusual to be doing that in an area that is not downtown Holyoke."

In 2005, Holyoke received national media attention when it became one of the first cities in the state to install surveillance cameras in high-crime areas downtown. Last year, Springfield installed surveillance cameras it its downtown, and the video is monitored by police and the Springfield Business Improvement District, which provided funding for them.

The installation of security or surveillance cameras by municipalities and other government entities remains controversial around the country. Many communities have been installing a variety of surveillance camera and video systems with money flowing from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Some cities and towns have shown resistance to the trend, however.

In a rare move, the Cambridge City Council last year rejected a federally funded surveillance camera program in that city, saying public safety officials were hard-pressed to show how the cameras would enhance and expand their abilities to keep the city safe.

In nearby Brookline, selectmen this month took a different approach when they voted to limit the operation of 12 surveillance cameras to nighttime hours after a heated town debate during the past year.

While many communities have welcomed the arrival of surveillance cameras, "a number of communities have said no," said staff attorney Sarah Wunsch, of the American Civil Liberties Union in Boston, which advocates against government surveillance.

"Our concerns have mainly been government placing cameras in public places 24/7," Wunsch said. "We need to ask, is this the road we should be going down? There are many questions about the effectiveness of the cameras, their costs, the effects on society and what the costs will be down the road."

Dan Crowley can be reached at dcrowley@gazettenet.com.