Posted on 09/20/2007 5:34:34 PM PDT by kellynla
LAPD Senior Lead Officer Gabriel Ahedo believes that the city's installation of lunch-box-sized security cameras over the last six years has discouraged graffiti and illegal dumping.
One location, Cohasset Street and Radford Avenue in North Hollywood, saw a sharp decrease in graffiti thanks to the camera, which plays a recorded warning -- "Stop! It is illegal to vandalize this area. . . . Leave now" -- in addition to taking photographs triggered by a motion detector, Ahedo said.
"It's made the area a lot safer and seems to deter taggers," he said.
City officials eager to show their support for the cameras and the ongoing need to find ways to fight graffiti gathered in North Hollywood on Wednesday to mark the installation of upgraded cameras and to promote the use of newer, more sophisticated cameras able to capture a quality picture of a license plate from 100 feet away in complete darkness.
Officials said the cameras may help avoid sometimes dangerous confrontations related to graffiti. Last month, two women, one in Pico Rivera and another in Hesperia, were shot to death when they confronted alleged taggers in unrelated cases.
In Los Angeles, cleanup crews removed 27 million square feet of graffiti in 2006, up from 21 million square feet in 2004, according to the most recent data from the Los Angeles Police Department. Police contend that a rise in graffiti correlates with a rise in gang-related crime, which police said has risen 15% this year in the San Fernando Valley compared with the same time period in 2006.
Although police decide where to place the cameras, the Department of Public Works' Office of Community Beautification is in charge of maintaining the devices, said Paul Racs, director of the city's beautification office.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Of course, if you don't comprendo English, this is a waste of time. LOL
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.