Pizza deliveryman Sean Morrison, 18, walked through Railroad Square in Haverhill carrying a brown bag of food, aware that police may be watching him.
The Police Department recently installed a new surveillance camera on the chimney of Mark's Deli at the busy downtown corner near the commuter train station. Another was mounted nearby on Washington Street. And three more cameras have been installed in undisclosed locations.
Police hope the cameras will help them catch vandals, thieves and other criminals in the act by feeding live video to laptop computers in police cruisers and at the station. Morrison, however, has been wary of them since he saw a technician installing one.
"I feel an invasion of privacy," Morrison said.
He thinks a public hearing should have been held before the cameras went up. But like it or not, he's being watched.
Surveillance cameras controlled by government agencies, private companies and residents are popping up everywhere across the Merrimack Valley and Southern New Hampshire — from Haverhill to Lawrence to Methuen and Salem, N.H.
The trend alarms some civil libertarians.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts generally is opposed to law-enforcement surveillance cameras mounted in public areas, according to spokesman Chris Ott.
The devices do not deter crime, and there is no control over how the cameras can be used, he said.
The ACLU compares such spying to "Big Brother," the fictional government that ruthlessly watches over its citizens in the George Orwell book "1984."
"Do we want to live in a society where essentially everyone is under surveillance all the time?" Ott questioned.
Ott said it is better for local law enforcement to use money spent on cameras for more patrols.
"Cameras cannot protect you the way, say, an officer on patrol can," Ott said.
Methuen Mayor William Manzi said one surveillance camera recently was installed at Tenney Street Park, where a new after-school center was opened.
He also is considering cameras for Greycourt Park and the one off Milk Street. These areas are "off the beaten path," he said, where police patrols do not regularly go.
But Manzi has no plans to install cameras in high-traffic areas.
"It leads to the Big Brother concept," Manzi said, too. "I think people are reluctant to be on camera everywhere they go, and, yeah, I'm reluctant to put cameras everywhere ... I don't think we need that."
Can cameras fight crime?
Lawrence police Chief John Romero defends the use of surveillance cameras. For the past few years they have helped police in his high-crime city nab criminals — many of them illegally dumping items like tires, TVs and refrigerators on the streets.
The cameras are mobile, and their secret locations vary, he said.
In addition to city-owned cameras, Romero said public and private cameras are in business parking lots and residential buildings, where owners want to monitor activity.
"When we have a crime that occurs, that's the first thing we do," Romero said of reviewing recordings from nearby surveillance cameras. "That's a common thing now."
Haverhill Mayor James Fiorentini said cameras help police better monitor situations from the station, too.
"The reaction of the public has been good to the security cameras. People feel safer," he said. "Our goal for downtown is that people are safe, and that they feel safe."
Cameras already exist in Haverhill High School hallways, as well as in the new Lowe's Home Improvement Center parking lot off Route 97. Now the mayor is considering putting them in City Hall. And City Councilor David Hall wants the city to install cameras at traffic lights to film the license plates of drivers running red lights.
Salem, N.H., is planning to install a system of cameras along Route 28 and other major roadways, but it's more for improving traffic flow than fighting crime, according to town planners.
The so-called Intelligent Transportation System is expected to gradually come online in Salem in the next four to five years. Officials expect it to make driving easier along Salem's busiest roadways by monitoring the number of vehicles and where they are heading.
Still, police say they're hoping to sometimes use the camera system to help them catch criminals on the run.
Deputy police Chief William Ganley said the system would have come in handy Oct. 31, when John Macedonia, 48, of North Andover robbed the Citizens Bank on Route 28.
Macedonia was able to avoid being detected by nearby police who had only a sketchy description of his car and a partial license plate. Police did not locate him at his North Andover apartment until Nov. 1, where they found stacks of cash from the bank.
"We had a police officer who just assisted a business nearby with a traffic problem," Ganley said. "He ended up being right behind the bank robber, but the call hadn't gone out yet on the description. Had the ITS system been in place, we could have scrolled through the footage and gotten a better description of the car."
A camera ended up contributing to Macedonia's arrest. His boss first identified him to police, spotting his distinctive limp captured on bank surveillance footage that was broadcast on television.
Ganley said he understands people's concerns about the cameras infringing on their rights. He hopes people understand it can also go a long way toward aiding victims of crimes.
"It's really going to help out, and I hope it's seen as a protective measure for our citizens," he said.
Towns with less crime, such as North Andover and Atkinson, N.H., see the benefits of cameras, though they're not a necessity at this point, leaders say.
"The process of doing that and the cost, we just have more needs in other areas at this time that need to be addressed first," Atkinson police Lt. William Baldwin said. "My fights right now are to get the communications up to par."
If his town ever does install cameras, Baldwin would want them at intersections where bad crashes happen often and recreation areas where vandalism occurs.
North Andover police Lt. Paul Gallagher said his town does not need the cameras because it is a relatively quiet community that seldom faces problems like those in more urban areas, like Lawrence.
Londonderry, N.H., police Capt. William Hart said the town has not considered using cameras on a permanent basis to deter criminals.
"There are concerns in New Hampshire because of the Highway Surveillance Act," Hart said. That law bans the use of cameras to scan plates and determine the identity of a motorist and passengers.
There are no police-owned surveillance cameras in Plaistow, N.H., but police have considered installing them for traffic purposes. They could help determine the best routes for medial calls, for instance, and aid in crash investigations, Deputy Chief Kathleen Jones said.
Residents who want cameras
Cindy Caggiano, 48, of Haverhill walked through Railroad Square last week with her children and grandchildren, unaware that the Police Department could be watching her. When told of the camera, she wasn't bothered.
"I don't have a problem with it," she said. "It feels safer being around with that."
Samuel Camacho, 59, of Haverhill said the cameras might catch someone committing a serious crime, so he supports them.
Some residents are requesting cameras.
Elise Hoffman lives in a condo complex off Vale Street in Haverhill, a narrow country road near the New Hampshire line. For years she has been frustrated by people dumping trash, furniture and appliances along the scenic roadway.
Hoffman, a lawyer who works in North Andover, saw an abandoned hot tub and home heating furnace on the side of the road less than a mile from her home. Now she has talked to the police chief and the mayor about installing a camera on a tree to photograph license plates of illegal dumpers.
"I'd love them to catch someone and make an example out of them," she said.
Haverhill is promoting its downtown as a good urban place to live, eat and shop, and city leaders and merchants know that safety is a big part of making that happen.
Jane England of England's MicroCreamery in Railroad Square is happy to have police watching from above.
"As a business owner, I definitely welcome Big Brother to the downtown," she said.
Haverhill police Chief Alan DeNaro referred all questions about the Police Department's use of security cameras to the mayor.
Staff writers Shawn Regan, Mike LaBella, Margo Sullivan, Meghan Carey and Jim Kimble contributed to this report.
Cameras in your towns
Haverhill: Three police surveillance cameras have been installed at undisclosed locations in Haverhill recently, and two are mounted in Railroad Square on Washington Street downtown. Another three are planned.
Lawrence: Uses several portable cameras to monitor criminal activity around the city at various secret locations.
Methuen: One camera recently installed at Tenney Street Park.
Salem, N.H.: Has a federal grant to buy and install cameras along Route 28 and other major roadways.
