On Monday the East Anaheim Street Business Alliance (EASBA) held a public event to debut two new surveillance cameras on Anaheim St., and announced plans to install two more over the next two years.
That the tab for installation and maintenance of the cameras is being picked up by the EASBA moots the question of whether this is a good use of public funds. But one question remains: Are such cameras good for Long Beach?
Whatever the answer, Monday’s additions are part of a trend. In August, the Long Beach Police Department publicly introduced the Long Beach Common Operating Picture (LBCOP) program, which links over 400 surveillance cameras (both privately- and publicly-owned, including the new ones on Anaheim St.) into a resource upon which the Long Beach Police Department can draw.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) takes issue with such resources—namely, that such a network is an invasion of privacy. “As long as there is no clear consensus about where we draw the line on surveillance to protect American values,” the organization stated in 2002, “public [closed-circuit television] is in danger of evolving into a surveillance monster. […] This technology (a) has the potential change the core experience of going out in public in America because of its chilling effect on citizens, [and] (b) carries very real dangers of abuse and ‘mission creep’ […].”
These are concerns the LBPD says it takes seriously. “[The Department] cannot just unilaterally review those cameras,” said Sgt. Aaron Eaton of LBCOP. “It would only be used if it would assist officers in apprehending a criminal or suspect. […] The Department is extremely sensitive to the rights of the Constitution and protecting the public’s right.”
Many people are sympathetic to both sides of the argument, having concerns about privacy issues but wanting to give law enforcement the tools it needs to protect our community.
But when EASBA President Rod Wilson says, “The new surveillance cameras are the first of many initiatives that will make East Long Beach safer for all who live and work here,” he is taking for granted the effect the cameras will have, results that are far from guaranteed. For example, a 2008 study released by the California Research Bureau advises, “Policymakers considering video surveillance of public places by law enforcement should not presume that crime reduction or prevention will occur automatically—or at all.” Meanwhile, a White Paper subsequently compiled by the ACLU concludes, “Meta-analyses from the UK [where surveillance cameras are more pervasive than in the U.S.], along with preliminary findings from the US, indicate strongly that video surveillance has little to no positive impact on crime.”
Such a scenario may be playing out right here in Long Beach. LBCOP began to be implemented two years ago, and yet currently the city is experiencing a major spike in crime. When asked last month about the current crime trend, LBPD Chief Jim McDonnell called it “predictable” considering the cuts the LBPD has suffered over the last three years and pointed to the number of officers on the street as the difference-maker, making no mention of surveillance cameras.
Nonetheless, on Monday McDonnell praised the camera installations, calling them “a tremendous asset to us from an officer-safety standpoint, as well as from the ability to be able to apprehend and later prosecute those that are committing crimes. [… W]e have the tools in place to be able to work together to more effectively combat not only crime, but [also] quality-of-life issues in this neighborhood.”
For good and/or ill, public surveillance cameras are all around us. But no matter their number or usefulness, our cameras cannot keep us safe.