California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Friday that hundreds of high-tech surveillance cameras are being installed on highways in and around the city of Oakland to fight crime.
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.
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But Newsom has sent state attorneys and CHP officials to help crack down on crime in Oakland, and said the surveillance network will “effectively combat criminal activity, hold perpetrators accountable, and ensure that all Californians “We provide law enforcement tools that build safer and stronger communities.”
Security throughout the state remains a concern, especially theft at retail stores, forcing even liberal leaders in Democratic cities to beef up police enforcement.
Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom is photographed during a speech. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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 has closed its only restaurant in Oakland due to vehicle break-ins, property damage, theft and robbery. This is his first closure in his 75-year history.
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 trying to sell 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. Masu.”
Neither the governor’s office nor the California Highway Patrol would say how much the contract would cost.
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.
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Earlier this month, voters approved a ballot measure supported by San Francisco Mayor London Breed that would give police access to drones and surveillance cameras.
