The East Orange Police Department is installing red light spotlights to remotely shine on those authorities believe are about to commit a crime. Chief William Robinson says the cameras will be attached to existing surveillance equipment and if they notice a crime about to take place, such as a robbery, they can bathe the perpetrator in red light.

"We want people to know they we are watching...we see this guy waiting behind a car to jump out at you...and we want them to know they are being recorded and we want residents to know that we are on the way."

Robinson says the cameras are capable of shooting a beam a full city block away.

"They have the ability to illuminate criminal acts in progress and also disrupt other criminal activities that require immediate police intervention."

He hopes the light based cameras will help further reduce crime in the neighborhood.

"We have already seen our crime rates drop 17% since we first installed our surveillance equipment and we are thrilled to the be the first town in the state to be using this new, highly innovative technology."

About 20 cameras, paid for with federal grant money, should be installed by early spring.

"I'm excited to get this going and see how well it works. We will be using them near churches, schools and areas of high crime. I wish we could attach one to all of the 60 cameras we have now, but we are going to test out these 20 first and see the results."

Other New Jersey towns are exploring similar ideas.



Courtesy Associated Press YouTube