Governor Newsom Announces 480 Vehicle Recognition Cameras in Oakland, East Bay

In a statement on Friday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the California Highway Patrol (CHP) will install a network of approximately 480 cameras that identify license plates and other car features in the City of Oakland and on state freeways in the East Bay to combat criminal activity and freeway violence.

For years, both California cities and the state have installed or funded to install license plate readers to help cut back on crime and alert police as to where certain cars have  gone. This included a large number of plate readers installed in San Jose in 2021 following a jump up of organized crime, Fairfield adding many for the same reason, and San Francisco recently announcing that 400 more readers will be installed at 100 intersections throughout the city. The state, meanwhile, has noted that roughly between 1 and 2 cars per 1000 cars trigger the Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) system, and stores data on vehicles to identify the vehicles of suspects.

With Oakland still having one of the highest crime rates in the country, and such cameras becoming more and more commonplace, Governor Newsom announced that 480 new cameras with even more advanced technology will be placed in the city as well as East Bay highways. According to the CHP, 290 of the cameras are expected to be deployed on streets in the City of Oakland, with 190 cameras to be deployed along state highways in the East Bay. The advanced cameras will allow for for improved vehicle recognition, enabling law enforcement to search for crime-linked vehicles by vehicle type, make, color, license plate state, missing/covered plates, and other unique features such as bumper stickers, decals, and roof racks. The system also enables real-time crime alerts, alerting authorities when a suspected crime-linked vehicle is spotted by the network.

Privacy measures will also be taken, with information only being stored for 28 days and no footage to go out beyond law enforcement agencies.

“This investment marks another step forward in our commitment to bolstering public safety and tackling organized crime and roadway violence in Oakland and across California,” said Newsom on Friday. “With the installation of this 480 high-tech camera network, we’re equipping law enforcement with the tools they need to effectively combat criminal activity and hold perpetrators accountable — building safer, stronger communities for all Californians.”

480 new high-tech cameras are being installed along freeways and in Oakland to make the area safer.

These will help law enforcement identify vehicles linked to crimes using real-time information and alerts.

We’re building safer, stronger communities for all Californians. pic.twitter.com/x6kekxUK3e

— California Governor (@CAgovernor) March 29, 2024

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao added that “Improving public safety and addressing quality of life issues in Oakland is my top priority. This new camera network will help us stop crime and hold more suspects accountable. On behalf of all Oaklanders, I want to thank the Governor and the California Highway Patrol for their ongoing commitment and investments in the city.”

While many agreed that the cameras are a good first step, some noted that they go around the issue that is more urgent: more police.

“The addition of these cameras will be a useful tool, but they won’t be effective unless more police are hired to take advantage of them and to have them pursue these suspects when it is activated,” explained Frank Ma, a former law enforcement official who now works as a security advisor for businesses in San Francisco and cities in the Peninsula, to the Globe on Friday. “Oakland itself is interesting, as the last few years they have cut more and more through their budget. Even after cities learned that defunding the police is a bad thing and stopped, Oakland was one of the few cities that didn’t, and cut more last year. And then they wonder why crime goes up and the Department goes into crisis.”

“And that goes back to cameras. Those are fine. But you need the police, the law enforcement, to back it up so they can respond quickly. That’s the other part they need, and Oakland doesn’t seem to be biting there. You can’t rely on the CHP for everything.”

Camera installation is expected to occur soon.