OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Several advanced surveillance cameras are being set up in Oakland and nearby highways to fight crime, as announced by California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday.
Newsom, a Democrat, explained in a news release that the California Highway Patrol has signed a contract with Flock Safety to install 480 cameras capable of recognizing and monitoring vehicles by their license plates, type, color, and even decals and stickers. These cameras will give law enforcement immediate alerts about suspicious vehicles.
Critics argue that the technology violates privacy and will result in further abuse of already marginalized communities by the police.
But Newsom, who has deployed state attorneys and CHP officers to help Oakland in its fight against crime, stated that the surveillance network will provide law enforcement with tools to effectively combat criminal activities and hold perpetrators accountable, ultimately creating safer, stronger communities for all Californians. assisting Oakland
Public safety is a concern across the state, particularly retail theft, prompting even liberal leaders of Democratic cities to embrace increased policing.
Despite crime decreasing in other large California cities, it has risen in Oakland, a city of about 400,000 people across the bay from San Francisco. In-N-Out Burger shut down its only Oakland restaurant due to car break-ins, property damage, theft, and robberies — the first closure in its 75-year history.
CEOs of four major downtown Oakland employers, including Blue Shield of California, Clorox, Kaiser Permanente, and Pacific Gas & Electric, announced a joint $10 million security program to improve public safety and protect employees.
Cat Brooks, executive director of the Anti Police-Terror Project and a 2018 Oakland mayoral candidate, believes the money will be used on faulty technology and placed in poor communities to further terrorize Black, Latino, and other vulnerable residents.
She stated, “How many people could be provided housing, training for a living wage job, or sent to college to receive health care, all things that actually keep people safe? You are divesting in Oakland and diverting critical resources that the city desperately needs to build whole, happy, safe communities, and directing them toward the same failed strategies.”
The contract with Flock Safety costs $1.6 million for the first year and nearly $1.5 million for each subsequent, optional year, said Jaime Coffee, CHP spokesperson.
Connor Metz, a Flock Safety spokesperson, mentioned in an email that the Atlanta-based company operates in 47 states and 5,000 communities across the country, including schools, cities, neighborhood associations, and law enforcement.
About 300 of the cameras will be placed on city streets, with the rest situated on nearby state highways, according to the governor’s statement.
To protect privacy, the footage will be stored for 28 days and will not be shared with third parties outside of California law enforcement, according to Newsom’s office.
Earlier this month, voters agreed to a proposal supported by San Francisco Mayor London Breed to give permission to police to use drones and surveillance cameras.
