A six-member committee recommended to the State College Borough Council last night that monitoring the three Beaver Avenue surveillance cameras could deter crime where the cameras are located.

The CCTV Citizens Advisory Committee conducted a one-year evaluation last fall of the effectiveness of the cameras since they were installed and operational in September 2003 on the 200 and 300 blocks of East Beaver Avenue.

Part of the proposed monitoring plan, which would take effect July 1, involves training about eight to 10 existing members of the student auxiliary services to operate the cameras and determine if the behaviors witnessed on camera warrant police action, said State College Police Department Chief Tom King.

The committee is composed of representatives from various local groups including the Off-Campus Student Union and the Undergraduate Student Government, and it found from the evaluation that the most crime took place during 15 peak hours: Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. The evaluation also found that crime rates decreased six percent in camera areas and increased 10 percent in non-camera areas during the past year, King said.

Off-Campus Student Union President and committee member Kristen Kofmehl said the committee decided to recommend monitoring the cameras to help increase safety during those peak hours.

"I think it's a difficult decision," she said. "A lot of women are being brave and coming forward. I think the community is more aware of what's going on in our town."

Kofmehl said that because of the amount of money the borough invested in the cameras, the committee wants to try to make the cameras as effective as possible.

Borough Council member Jeff Kern said that he was originally opposed to installing the cameras but he said as he became more involved in the process, he warmed up to the idea.

"I saw them as an intrusion," he said. "But it's an inexpensive way to get more eyes downtown. We can't afford to hire enough police."

Chris Buchignani, a local resident, brought a concern to the table that questioned the ability of the students monitoring the cameras to gauge the seriousness of a crime.

He said he did not want the students to unnecessarily draw police away from areas in need of patrolling.

"I want to make sure that council is satisfied with the training," he said. "I just want to say that I hope council, as the elected public servants, have done their homework."

King said from Tuesdays to Saturdays, members of the auxiliary police already work under State College police supervision while helping to patrol the downtown area. He added that the students monitoring the cameras would also be under police supervision to help them decide what would merit a call to police.

Committee member Janet Knauer said the committee is also concerned about the safety of Calder Way.

"We want to see about moving one of the cameras into the dark alley," she said. "We are responding to that concern."

Knauer, also a Borough Council member, said the committee was still looking at the cost of relocating a camera, but it was something the committee still wanted to accomplish.

Kofmehl said the student operating the cameras would have no involvement in police response to a potential crime.

"The officer that's viewing has no bearing on who's getting arrested," she said. "No action can be taken by the auxiliary Penn State officers."