Shawangunk seeks upgraded security cameras to protect parks, buildings, court complex

Motorola Solutions pitched the Town of Shawangunk Board on April 2 as Supervisor Ken Ronk Jr. said the town’s current camera setup was not enough to protect parks, municipal buildings and the court complex.

Ronk said the town had three parks with operational bathrooms and septic systems that could not simply be left open overnight without better surveillance. He tied the proposal to vandalism prevention, employee safety and faster police response when problems occur after hours. He also pointed to the court complex, where defendants, inmates and frustrated ticket recipients can create tensions that require a stronger security presence.

The town’s parks make that concern concrete. Verkeerder Kill Park, an 83-acre site on Route 52, includes restrooms, a pavilion with winter skating, a nature trail, a fishing area and the town’s only soccer field outside school facilities. Garrison Park is also part of the discussion, and town officials have already been juggling other park projects, including playground builds listed in the town’s 2026 organizational meeting minutes.

Motorola’s presentation focused on a system that would tie together video, access control, radios and license-plate-reader alerts. The company also demonstrated high-definition streaming, attention-based camera interfaces, boundary boxes that identify people and objects, and search tools that can help locate motion, clothing colors and other scene details. For a small town, the pitch was not just about adding cameras but about stitching together a broader security network.

The debate fits into a larger set of local priorities. In the town’s 2026 organizational-meeting minutes, Councilman Brian Amthor said a decision still needed to be made on the former firehouse and the relocation of the police station, while Ronk discussed a code-red system as part of emergency planning. Town police are led by Chief Gerald Marlatt and are listed at 13 Bona Ventura Avenue in Wallkill, a reminder of how much of the municipal footprint would fall under any expanded surveillance plan.

Security concerns at the parks have also been building for months. Board minutes from July 17, 2025, show Ronk asked police to lock the park gate every night to avoid issues. In April 2025, he told the board the town had 92 miles of roads and had long been underfunded, a context that will shape any camera purchase as officials weigh public safety against competing capital needs.