St. Paul officials released details Thursday about plans to install security cameras along University Avenue in December.

Police expect the 25 cameras - from the Minneapolis border to Robert Street - to be in place by the end of January, said St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington. Later, 10 cameras will be added from Robert Street to Union Depot, he said.

The closed-circuit cameras will be the first broad-based surveillance technology deployed in the city.

"We want people to know that when you come onto this avenue, the St. Paul Police Department is watching, so you better behave," said St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman. "But you will feel safe."

The city got a $1.2 million federal grant for the cameras and Target Corp. presented the city with a $300,000 check for the project Thursday.

The cameras will be monitored at police headquarters, the police Western District substation and the emergency communications center. Metro Transit and St. Paul public works also will be involved in monitoring, Harrington said.

"You can see crimes as they develop, you can watch the bad guys circling their victim and even before the robbery takes place you can start having squads on the way," Harrington said. "In many cases what we're hoping is we will prevent crimes actually from even happening by having people monitoring these cameras."

- Mara H. Gottfried