Rancho Palos Verdes approves more ALPR cameras as part of safety plan
The Daily Breeze
By Cynthia Washicko
25 December 2016
Definition
Automated License Plate Recognition
(ALPR) is a technology that uses optical character recognition (OCR) to
automatically read license plate characters.
More Automated License Plate Recognition cameras are coming to Rancho
Palos Verdes in Los Angles County.
In a move meant to promote public safety, the City Council has approved
a new set of Automated License Plate Recognition cameras as part of a
program that also includes incentives for residents to install cameras
in their neighborhoods and on their properties.
A total of 24 ALPR cameras will be installed along 12 points on Western
Avenue to cover the city’s eastern border, which is in addition to the
45 ALPR cameras installed throughout the Peninsula since August — a
system officials credit with helping to take down a burglary ring
recently.
Councilwoman Susan Brooks praised the camera system for making the
Peninsula safer.
“We really are ... in the forefront, and I really commend this council
for moving forward with these activities,” Brooks said.
a grant program for homeowners associations
The Neighborhood Public Safety Monitoring Program approved last week
includes a grant program for homeowners associations to help fund
surveillance cameras in city neighborhoods. The grant would allow
associations to apply to have the city cover half the cost of a camera,
which amounts to $3,750, according to the staff report.
The grant money, however, is contingent upon the HOA using the
city-approved camera system to ensure standardized quality of all the
cameras, according to the report.
monetary
incentives for homeowners to install Ring, an electronic doorbell
For neighborhoods where a surveillance camera isn’t plausible or there
isn’t an HOA to install a system, the council approved monetary
incentives for homeowners to install Ring, an electronic doorbell that
can record video of anyone who comes to a front door and relay that
footage to a homewoner’s smartphone. As part of that portion of the
plan, the city and sheriff’s department negotiated a deal with Bot Home
Automation, which owns Ring, that would have the company subsidize $50
of the total cost of the video-recording devices. The city would cover
another $50, with a $100,000 cap on the total amount the city would
provide to homeowners taking advantage of the discount.
The public safety plan measures come with a total $660,000 price tag,
which covers $360,000 for the 24 cameras on Western Avenue, $200,000
for the grants to the homeowners associations and $100,000 for the
doorbell camera incentives.
Also at last week’s meeting, the council approved a response to
Proposition 57, which passed in November and will increase the chances
of parole for some nonviolent felons. The additional ALPR cameras and
the grant program to help homeowners associations purchase surveillance
cameras were both included in that response, according to a city staff
report.
consider starting a vacation loaner camera
program
The City Council also will consider starting a vacation loaner camera
program, which would allow homeowners to check out motion-sensing video
cameras to keep on their property while they are on vacation, according
to the staff report.
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