Security cameras head to LIRR station, downtown Riverhead

There are more security cameras coming to downtown Riverhead.

Riverhead officials say crews are finally installing brand-new surveillance cameras at the Long Island Rail Road station and in the downtown area after years of work to make it happen.

In total, the town says about a dozen cameras are being installed. Some of them are being placed in the parking lot of the train station, others near Main Street, and some more are going to be in a nearby park.

Those cameras will all feed into a central monitoring hub at the Riverhead Police Department. The system will also be able to incorporate cameras from downtown businesses and apartment complexes.

"They'll be monitored 24/7, 365 days a year," says Town Supervisor Laura Jens-Smith.

News 12 has reported recent violent incidents in the town, including a shooting at an apartment complex in August and another shooting at the train station last year.

MORE: Police: Riverhead man arrested for fatally shooting wife | Police: 2 seriously injured in shooting near Riverhead LIRR station

Overall, Jens-Smith says Riverhead has undergone a positive transformation over the years and the cameras will help keep that going.

“We moved forward to be able to place cameras down here to alleviate some of the uncomfortableness that people feel walking in areas where maybe there's not a lot of people in, and also in Grangebel Park so people can utilize that more,” says Jens-Smith.

The project costs $200,000 – most of that money is coming from a federal grant.

The town expects the entire system to be up and running in a few weeks.