ON DISPLAY — Mingo Junction Police Chief Willie McKenzie III demonstrated the video feed in his office, sourced from eight new, 24/7 security cameras in the Mingo Junction City Building. -- Christopher Dacanay

MINGO JUNCTION — Village officials hope that a major reinvestment in security cameras at Aracoma Park will make the space safer for visitors and deter crime.

Crews with Tri-State Security have finished installing 13 new cameras at key locations, including the pool, parking lots, playground, bocce court and basketball courts. The cameras provide a 24/7 video feed — without audio — streamed directly to the village’s police station.

This replaces the village’s old system, which desperately needed an update, according to Village Administrator Darrin Corrigan. The total cost came to $15,658.16, of which $13,000 was paid for with 2024 parks and recreation grant funds from the Jefferson County commissioners.

Achieving better safety was the upgrade’s goal, Corrigan said, adding how safety has been one of his priorities since beginning with the village in January.

“This day and age, you want to make sure everybody’s protected. You got kids up there (at the park), you got seniors up there. … It was an old camera system, not up-to-date, and there weren’t as many cameras. It was very minimal coverage. (Now,) there’s not a spot up there we can’t watch or look in at any time we want. We stretched our area out.”

WATCHFUL EYE — Two of the 13 newly installed security cameras at Mingo Junction’s Aracoma Park looked over the area. -- Christopher Dacanay

Police Chief Willie McKenzie III noted disorderly activity that’s previously afflicted the park, most notably vandalism of the park’s bocce courts that occurred this summer. With these new cameras, he said, individuals will, hopefully, be dissuaded from causing issues.

“(The cameras are) going to be a tremendous asset for us because, when we have eyes up there in the park, we’ll be able to deter so much crime going on up there. Also, it will be a big help in the summertime, once the pool opens back up. We tend to have a lot of juveniles from out of town who come in and cause a lot of commotion. So, now we’ll be able to see who it is. People will also have it in their mind, seeing the camera, not to do certain things because they know they’re being watched at all times.”

Village Councilman Jack Brettell, chair of the cemeteries and parks committee, said the cameras are “great for us because now it’s going to show the whole park.” He added that an upgrade to the old system was necessary.

Living near the park, Brettell has historically used the camera system to monitor suspicious activity, and he hopes to do that again with this system. Previously, if he spotted something amiss, he would access the camera system through his smart device.

“Me being close, I can probably walk out my door and call 911 while I watch them on the camera,” he said.

YOU’VE BEEN WARNED — A sign by the bocce courts at Mingo Junction’s Aracoma Park in Mingo Junction warned of 24-hour video surveillance in the area. -- Christopher Dacanay

Mingo Junction’s parks and rec grant was one of the 26 funding requests awarded a total of nearly $270,000 from the commissioners this year. Commissioner Eric Timmons presented the village with its check in July.

“I go to Aracoma Park, my daughter loves it there, they have a nice facility,” Timmons said. “I’m just glad that we (the commissioners) can be a part of that. (When you) drive around the county like I do, you see where this money goes and the different projects these villages and townships have been able to complete because of these funds. It’s just nice to give back a little bit and see us moving forward.”

Mingo’s priority on safety hasn’t been confined to Aracoma Park. The village this year paid $11,116.43 out of pocket to World Radio Telecommunications for a package upgrade to its phone and security camera systems. That upgrade saw eight new, video-only cameras installed in the city building.

Corrigan said other security camera additions are being pursued. He’s awaiting quotes for a camera to cover the village’s newly carved eagle statue by the veterans memorial.

Furthermore, Mayor Judy Ruckman is investigating funding to create a real-time crime center. That would essentially mean placing cameras in public spaces to monitor crime, assisting the modestly staffed Mingo Junction Police Department with its law enforcement duties.

“It’s mainly to help because we have a limited police force,” she said, adding, “It’s not to spy on people. (The cameras) will be at public crossways, the playgrounds. It’s not to watch people during their everyday. It’s so, if something were to happen, we could go back and see (what occurred).”

McKenzie said he’d “love to see” the village get a real-time crime center, one that could read license plates and monitor parts of the village that the small department couldn’t normally cover.

The chief said he thinks 2024 has “been a good year for (the village),” given the camera upgrades and other improvement efforts that officials have spearheaded. He expressed optimism about 2025 and said, “It feels like we’re finally catching up with some other small villages that have been implementing stuff.”

Corrigan also is in favor of a real-time crime center in the village. Particularly, he’d like to see cameras posted at the village’s various small playgrounds, which have been targets of vandalism — the village service department just finished filling sledgehammer holes in the Church Hill playground’s cement shelter, and crews will return in the spring to fix the wood roof.

Regarding continued safety improvement efforts, Corrigan said, “I just want (village residents) to know we’re taking every precaution we can for safety at the park and at the city building, and, hopefully, around the community.”