The town of Saratoga isn’t waiting for the arrest of vandals who defaced hot pool property earlier this month to take action in preventing it from happening again.
Aug. 20, the Saratoga Town Council passed a motion to allow the Saratoga Police Department to purchase four surveillance cameras and a Digital Video Recorder in the amount of $4,140.40.
The cameras will be installed in areas around the hot pool to help prevent vandalism and other illegal activity, said Mayor John Zeiger.
“We have had several incidents where the donation box has been broken into, plus the recent vandalism at the hot pool,” Zeiger said.
The cameras will make law enforcement in the area more efficient because police officers will be able to check the area more frequently, Zeiger said.
Assistant Chief of Police Tom Knickerbocker said police officers check the hot pool “quite often”, and when they do, they do a walkthrough of the entire hot pool area.
The cameras will have recording capabilities and can stream live video on an internet-based platform, said Chief of Police Grayling Wachsmuth. The internet system will only be accessible to SPD officials.
Wachsmuth said he purchased the system Aug. 21, but does not know when installation can begin.
Councilwoman Judy Welton, who suggested installing the system in a previous town council meeting, said installing the cameras is an emergency provision, and funding for the project will be found.
“We want to be more careful with the donations at the hot pool and we don’t want anything stolen or vandalized,” Welton said. “I think it is very important right now, and I think it is very important that we do it quickly.”
Zeiger said surveillance cameras used to be at the hot pools in previous years, but were taken down because of misuse.
Wachsmuth said the new cameras will not go anywhere near the dressing rooms, stating that is a violation of basic civil rights. The cameras would be put up in general areas around the hot pool in view of entrances and exits and the donation box.
Zeiger said police officers are only interested in seeing who goes in and out of the dressing rooms to assist in narrowing suspects if someone were to vandalize the dressing rooms.
Arrest update
Aug. 20, Knickerbocker reported to the Saratoga Town Council that the SPD was “getting close” to an arrest of the vandal, or vandals, who defaced hot pool property on three separate occasions, once on July 29, again on Aug. 3 and once more Aug. 4.
Knickerbocker said the SPD was looking at someone possibly from out of town, and had been known to commit similar acts of vandalism in the past.
Wachsmuth said no acts of vandalism have been noticed or reported at the hot pool since Aug. 4.
The vandal, or vandals, in the three days marked the walls with gang sings reading “SUR 13”, clogged toilets using toilet paper and chipped paint on the walls using a squeegee.
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