OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Hundreds of high-tech surveillance cameras are being installed in the city of Oakland and surrounding highways to fight crime, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday.
Democratic Newsom said in a news release that the California Highway Patrol has contracted with Flock Safety to install 480 cameras that can identify and track vehicles by license plate, type, color, and even decals and bumper stickers. said. The cameras provide authorities with real-time alerts about suspicious vehicles.
Opponents say the technology will invade privacy and lead to further police abuses against already marginalized communities.
But Newsom, who sent the state attorney and CHP officials. assist auckland In combating crime, he said the surveillance network provides law enforcement tools to “effectively combat criminal activity, hold perpetrators accountable, and build safer and stronger communities for all Californians.”
Security throughout the state remains a concern, especially theft at retail stores, forcing even liberal leaders in Democratic cities to beef up police enforcement.
But while crime has declined in California’s other large cities, it has skyrocketed in Oakland, a city of about 400,000 people across the bay from San Francisco. In-n-out burger closed Auckland’s only restaurant will close for the first time in its 75-year history due to car break-ins, property damage, theft and robbery.
On Thursday, the CEOs of four major employers in downtown Oakland announced plans for a joint $10 million security program to improve public safety and protect employees. . The companies are Blue Shield of California, Clorox, Kaiser Permanente, and Pacific Gas & Electric.
Kat Brooks, executive director of the Anti-Police Terrorism Project and a 2018 Oakland mayoral candidate, said Friday that money will be spent on faulty technology and will harm Black, Latino and other vulnerable populations. He said they would be used in poor areas to further terrorize the population.
“How many people can we house, train for living-wage jobs, send to college, get health care to actually keep people safe?” she said. . “You are selling businesses in Oakland. You are taking critical resources that this city desperately needs to build a whole, happy and safe community and funneling them into the same failed strategy. There is.”
The Flock Safety contract will cost $1.6 million in the first year and nearly $1.5 million in each subsequent option year, CHP spokeswoman Jamie Coffee said.
The company is based in Atlanta, Georgia and operates in 47 states and 5,000 communities, including schools, cities, neighborhood associations and police departments, Flock Safety spokesman Connor Metz said in an email. said.
Nearly 300 cameras will be installed on city streets, and the rest will be installed on nearby state highways, the governor’s statement said.
To protect privacy, Newsom’s office said the footage will be stored for 28 days and will not be shared with third parties outside of California law enforcement.
Earlier this month, voters approved a ballot measure sponsored by San Francisco Mayor London Breed. Police access to drones And a surveillance camera.
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