EVERETT — The city wants to buy up to 50 surveillance cameras that would be installed at some of Everett’s most popular parks.

The cameras could deter crime and save money, said a city official.

They also would capture images of people visiting parks who might not realize they’re being watched — and recorded.

“We believe the cameras can be an effective tool to be used as a deterrent against car prowls, vandalism and graffiti, particularly at our regional parks that are off city streets that don’t have as many passing eyes,” city spokeswoman Kate Reardon said.

In a project summary, the city pinpointed the following parks as potential locations for cameras: Legion, Sen. Henry M. Jackson, Clark, Forest, Howarth, Lions, the Interurban Trail and Thornton A. Sullivan.

Images captured by the cameras could be viewed in real time or stored for later viewing. The cameras also would come with “voice deterrence” technology that broadcasts a message from the camera if a motion detector picks up movement at preprogrammed times, Reardon said.

She declined to talk about where the cameras would be placed.

The city has older surveillance cameras in at least two parks, Forest and Walter E. Hall parks, she said. However, those cameras are called “archaic” by some park staff.

“Park rangers go and monitor the cameras if they think activity is going in between patrols,” she said. “We don’t have someone watching it 24 hours a day or anything like that.”

The city also has had more than a dozen surveillance cameras installed in spots around downtown since 1999. At the time, the police told The Herald the cameras would not tape most street activity and would not be monitored 24 hours a day.

Reardon declined to say how those cameras are monitored now.

If the state awarded the funds, the parks cameras could be in place by July 2012, according to the summary.

City leaders have not yet had a public discussion about whether surveillance cameras in city parks are a good idea.

The issue emerged briefly in public during a briefing to the City Council in December and again Wednesday when Councilman Drew Nielsen mentioned it as an example of how the council may have lost some oversight of the city’s day-to-day doings.

Nielsen said he learned about the camera proposal when he saw a legislative agenda, outlining requests to the state for $300,000 to buy the cameras.

The city might chip in as much as $60,000 more.

Nielsen wondered why elected officials didn’t know more sooner.

“Maybe this is a good idea that I would support,” he said. “I really have no idea at this point.

“I can say for certain, however, that requests for capital funds involve developing priorities, and council was not involved in moving this item to the top because we had never heard of it. I do not know what items may have fallen off the list because of it.”

Debra Smith: 425-339-3197; dsmith@heraldnet.com.