Hundreds of surveillance cameras installed to deter East Bay crime

By Da Lin

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    OAKLAND, California (KPIX) — Some families of crime victims said they support the installation of roughly 500 new cameras in Oakland and along East Bay freeways to monitor and record criminal activity.

“It has to have a deterrent effect because if they know that the cameras are there, who wants to put their dirt on film?” aked Alicia Benton.

Benton said it’s too late for her family. Someone shot and killed her daughter Amani Morris in November 2021 near the Bay Bridge toll plaza. Morris’ two boys, ages 3 and 5, were sitting in the back.

“It was senseless,” Benton said. “No child should ever see that — to see your mother’s head blown.”

The two boys now live with her in Georgia. The case is not solved and she said the pain is still indescribable.

“You can be doing good one day and the next minute you’re in tears and it could be a smell or it could be a song. You have no idea what the grief is for this and there is no time limit,” Benton said.

California governor Gavin Newsom 290 cameras will be installed on surface streets in Oakland and 190 cameras along East Bay freeways. He said the cameras are similar to license plate readers but have an additional ability to identify vehicles by things like make, model and color as well as details such as bumper stickers and roof racks.

“I don’t have a problem with them tracking you. If you’re not doing anything wrong, what do you got to worry about?” asked driver Jim Rizzo.

The governor believes the surveillance network will help reduce crime. In the past six months, he has also sent CHP officers into Oakland to crack down on auto thefts and violent crime.

“What it will potentially do is create privacy abuses. I think that it can also open up the opportunity for these cameras to be misused,” said George Galvis, founder and executive director of CURYJ, a non-profit that works with Oakland youth.

He wants the governor to instead invest the money in youth programs, mental health and affordable housing.

“The safest communities don’t have the most police, the most surveillance or the most jails. They have the most resources,” Galvis said.

While Benton supports more money for prevention programs, she also wants cameras.

“Put everything into it so that another family doesn’t have to experience what we experienced,” she said.

Authorities say the cameras should be up and running later this summer. The CHP says the contract with the company Flock Safety costs $1.6 million for the first year and about $1.5 million for each subsequent year.

The governor’s office said surveillance footage will be retained for 28 days and will not be shared with third parties beyond California law enforcement.

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