San Francisco police to deploy mobile security camera trailers in high-crime areas
The San Francisco Police Department will position mobile camera trailers to provide round-the-clock monitoring of high-crime areas and help officers in making arrests, authorities announced Monday.
Chief Bill Scott joined Mayor London Breed and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins at a press briefing Monday morning to announce the deployment of the trailers as part of a pilot program with Utah-based remote security tech firm LVT Technologies.
The Mayor's Office said the camera trailers are an additional tool for police to use following the passage of Prop E allowing for expanded use of new technology to improve public safety. Since Prop. was enacted, San Francisco has already added new technology tools such as automated license plate readers, and deployed new drones.
"We are excited to add another tool in our department's tool belt," said Scott in a prepared statement. "Our officers are already eagerly embracing other technologies like ALPR and drones to make significant arrests. I can't wait to see what they will do with assistance from these security units."
The mobile security units feature a 22-foot mast with three cameras that can be outfitted with thermal and panoramic lenses, shine floodlights, and broadcast announcements, according to LVT Technologies.
The Mayor's Office said three camera units will be initially deployed to support the city's Drug Market Agency Coordination Center, a task force comprised of police and other city departments to address street crime and open-air drug markets in the Tenderloin and South of Market Districts. Other areas to be initially targeted are locations in the Mission District where prostitution and related problems are prevalent and in merchant corridors to combat and deter crime.
"New technology has been a game-changer for public safety in this City," said Breed in a prepared statement. "As we continue to fill our academy classes with new recruits, this technology not only helps our existing officers be more efficient today, but it means as our ranks grow, we will see even more impact."
Such mobile security units have been used by private companies in shopping mall parking lots, construction sites and other strategic locations. LVT Technologies says the units have been increasingly used by law enforcement to mitigate the effects of low police staffing.
