Downtown surveillance cameras will bring Big Brother to Bakersfield
| Thursday, Aug 12 2010 05:33 PM
Last Updated Friday, Aug 13 2010 12:09 PM
Five video cameras that will help Bakersfield police keep an eye on downtown activities should be up and running before the end of the year.
The surveillance cameras will be a first for the department, said Bakersfield Police Lt. Scott Tunnicliffe, who is helping oversee implementation.
The city council approved the equipment purchase Wednesday, though the project has been about a year in the making.
The outdoor cameras will be able to tilt, pan and zoom in on details including license plates. Police staff in downtown headquarters and the dispatch center will monitor feeds.
The units will be located at 24th Street and Chester Avenue, 23rd and Eye streets, 19th and Eye streets, Truxtun and Chester avenues and California and Union avenues. Equipment, installation and monitors will run about $310,000, which is being paid by grant and asset-forfeiture funds.
One downtown bar owner, Kenny Reed of Guthrie's Alley Cat on Wall Street Alley, said he's become a "reluctant supporter" of the idea -- something he opposed a few years back.
Government-operated cameras have the potential to "penetrate into the personal lives" of citizens in a "very invasive" way, he said.
But his increasing cynicism has made him accept the notion such surveillance is necessary.
"By this time, I have cameras in my own bar," Reed said, adding he supplies video footage to cops.
"This will be a good test, a good place to test it and the appropriate time" to test, he said.
Tunnicliffe said the cameras will help police use resources more efficiently in a time of shrinking budgets.
Currently, officers beef up patrols of the downtown bar area on Friday and Saturday nights. It's hoped the cameras will allow virtual monitoring that will free up manpower for higher priority situations.
The extra eyes are expected to help with response time, officer safety and evidence.
If a fight breaks out by one of the bars near the future 19th and Eye camera, for example, someone monitoring the feed might notice before 911 calls come in. A quick response could allow the officer to defuse a situation before it becomes serious. Dispatchers can also describe the unfolding scene and suspects to responding officers.
The systems have been used to catch drunk drivers when people have reported intoxicated bar patrons driving home. Cameras pick up vehicle information and which direction someone heads off, allowing officers to track down the potential violator.
The footage will be stored, probably for 15 days or so, and can be used as evidence in criminal trials, Tunnicliffe said.
The Redlands Police Department has had cameras operating since approving the program in late 2006. It's now up to about 100 units, said spokesman Carl Baker.
Speaker-equipped cameras have come in handy in schools and parks where after-hours trespassing and vandalism has been a problem, Baker said.
One remote school, located in a neighborhood where crime rates are low, had a number of night-time break-ins. Police response times were long.
Now, when a motion-detecting beam is tripped, the camera pinpoints action. A police dispatcher addresses violators over the speaker system, informing them they're trespassing and must leave. They almost always do, Baker said, making officer response unnecessary.
The speakers also help in parks, which close at 10 p.m. and where smoking and drinking are banned. It's sometimes funny to see people's responses when they light up late at night.
"Suddenly, it seems like the voice of God is telling them to put out cigarettes," Baker said.
Redlands, a city of about 63,600 located in southwestern San Bernardino County, has seen its police force reduced from 98 to 76 sworn officers in the past three years. The cameras allow the department to better leverage shrinking resources, Baker said, and he's not aware of any complaints stemming from their use.
Redlands created a Citizens Privacy Commission that keeps an eye on the program, something the police chief has stressed from the beginning, Baker said. The commission is open to anyone who wants to participate.
Members can go to the communication center at any time and ask for footage to monitor camera use. That helps make sure someone is "not using it to follow pretty girls down the street," he said.
Bakersfield doesn't yet have plans for a citizen oversight commission.
The cameras will be clearly visible and marked, Tunnicliffe said. But police here haven't yet seen how big the housings will be, so don't know if there will be room to post a warning that video surveillance is in progress.
Police here hope to expand the program if they can find more grant money.
