Oakland, CA: According to an announcement made by California Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday, hundreds of high-tech surveillance cameras are being deployed in Oakland and the surrounding freeways to combat increased crime.
According to Newsom, a Democrat, the California Highway Patrol has entered into a contract with Flock Safety to install 480 cameras that are capable of identifying and tracking vehicles based on license plate, kind, color, and even decals and bumper stickers. Real-time notifications of vehicles suspected of being involved in criminal activity will be produced by the cameras.
Proponents of the technology argue that it violates individuals’ right to privacy and would result in additional police abuse of populations that are already oppressed.
However, Newsom, who has sent state attorneys and officers from the California Highway Patrol to assist Oakland in its fight against crime, stated that the surveillance network will provide law enforcement with the tools necessary “to effectively combat criminal activity and hold perpetrators accountable—building safer, stronger communities for all Californians.”
As a result of the continued concern for public safety across the state, particularly about retail theft, even liberal leaders of Democratic communities have been forced to endorse more policing.
But while crime has decreased in other major cities in California, it has increased in Oakland, which is located across the bay from San Francisco and has a population of approximately 400,000 people. Because of car break-ins, property damage, theft, and robberies, In-N-Out Burger had to close its only location in Oakland, which was the first time the company had ever closed a restaurant in its 75-year history.
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A collaborative security initiative with a budget of ten million dollars was unveiled on Thursday by the chief executive officers of four large enterprises located in the downtown area of Oakland. The program is intended to enhance public safety and protect employees. Blue Shield of California, Clorox, Kaiser Permanente, and Pacific Gas & Electric are the names of the organizations in question.
Cat Brooks, the executive director of the Anti-Police-Terror Project and a contender for mayor of Oakland in 2018, stated on Friday that money will be spent on faulty equipment and placed in low-income communities to further frighten citizens who are Black, Latino, and other vulnerable groups.
“How many people could be housed or trained into a living-wage job or sent to college and get health care, things that keep people safe?” As she put it. “In Oakland, you are selling your assets. You are putting the resources that this city so urgently needs to construct communities that are whole, joyful, and safe, and you are putting those resources toward the same techniques that have been unsuccessful in the past.
Neither the office of the governor nor the California Highway Patrol has disclosed the amount of money that will be the cost of the contract.
According to the statement released by the governor, around 300 of the cameras will be installed on city streets, and the other cameras will be installed on state highways in the surrounding environment.
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To protect individuals’ privacy, the film will be stored for 28 days and will not be distributed to any third parties other than police enforcement in the state of California, according to Newsom’s office.
In the beginning of this month, voters gave their approval to a ballot item that was supported by Mayor London Breed of San Francisco. The measure was intended to provide police access to surveillance cameras and drones.