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NYPD Installs 8 Cameras Where Karina Vetrano Was Murdered in Howard Beach

By  Dusica Malesevic and Katie Honan | August 25, 2016 12:31pm | Updated on August 25, 2016 1:16pm

 An NYPD car parked along Spring Creek Park as the investigation into Karina Vetrano's murder continues.
An NYPD car parked along Spring Creek Park as the investigation into Karina Vetrano's murder continues.
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DNAinfo/Katie Honan

HOWARD BEACH — The NYPD has installed eight cameras around the marshland area where jogger Karina Vetrano was found murdered less than a month ago.

Queens Borough President Melinda Katz requested that police install the cameras a day or two after Vetrano was found dead in Spring Creek Park near 161st Avenue and 78th Street, said Sharon Lee, Katz's communications director.

She announced the camera installation at a town hall earlier this month, saying she hoped it would deter criminals.

"I think it's important for folks to know, you enter there, you exit there, you're going to be filmed," she told the crowd of Howard Beach residents on Aug. 8.

Katz had previously allocated $1.2 million to install 34 cameras throughout the borough, and around $282,350 from those funds was used for the eight cameras, Lee said.

The borough president's office does not decide where cameras are placed, but it does make suggestions, they said.

Katz requested the NYPD put in the cameras "because there was a need in the area," Lee said.

Vetrano was found by her father when she did not return from a jog on Aug. 2. Three days after her murder, the NYPD surveyed the park and determined it was feasible to install the cameras there, according to Lee.

The cameras ring the perimeter of the park and are visible, Lee added. 

On Wednesday, the mayor's office added $10,000 to the reward to help find Vetrano's killer, bringing the total offered by law enforcement to $35,000. Vetrano's family is also raising money for the reward, which has topped more than $260,000.