LBPD Will Monitor Live Video On New Year's Eve From Mobile Security Cams, Borrowed From Port, Parked Along 2nd St. In Belmont Shore & In Aquarium Area To Maximize PD Resources

(December 30, 2011) -- What is this mobile thing (spotted by an LBReport.com reader, thank you) visible in two locations yesterday (Dec. 29) along Second Street in Belmont Shore? The one in the photo below is near Covina Ave (roughly 5200 block) and there's another one along 2nd St. in about the 5000 block. And we've learned there is or will be a third one downtown in the Aquarium area.

2nd St. photo credit: Ryan MacCaskey

LBPD tells LBReport.com that they're live video mobile security cameras, owned by the Port of Long Beach and loaned to LBPD for use on New Year's Eve. The cameras are on a trailer that can be strategically parked where needed. The cameras transmit live video back to a Command Post, which monitors the images and can quickly send officers where they'll be most effective.

LBPD East Division Commander Michael Beckman tells LBReport.com, "It's much like the 4th of July, a very busy time for us, and with this New Year's Eve falling on a weekend [Saturday night-Sunday a.m.] we want to do everything we can to maximize our resources."

The mobile cameras were recently used during the OccupyLongBeach protests at the Port, Commander Beckman said.

Port of Long Beach spokesman John Pope tells LBReport.com that the mobile camera units are being loaned to LBPD for New Year's Eve use (no charge, a partnership) along with some set-up personnel and I.T. [information technology] support.

3rd dist. Councilman Gary DeLong commented to LBReport.com: "Long Beach residents are fortunate to have a Police Chief who takes advantage of new technology to continue to increase the effectiveness of our Police Department and is always seeking new methods of maximizing his resources."

Commander Beckman said, "The cameras are there for public safety in areas where we know we'll have large crowds gathered in one place."

The increased use of technology in LBPD operations is consistent with the views of LB Police Chief Jim McDonnell, expressed nearly immediately on his arrival in LB from L.A. in 2010.

As reported roughly a year and a half ago by LBReport.com, the Chief told a July 8, 2010 meeting of the Belmont Shore Residents Association that he planned to use a number of technological tools in an effort to make Long Beach "a model for the rest of the nation...so everybody else looks to Long Beach for best practices."

July 2010 LBReport.com photo

Chief McDonnell cited the use of the Nixle text based public advisory system (used in L.A. now implemented in LB), GPS/radio frequency location technology (implemented in LB to locate individuals with medical conditions), automated license plate readers (used in LB), shots-fired location technology (not yet implemented in LB; City Council voted to allocate $350,000 in Oct. 2011, PD mgm't says it's evaluating systems and locations)...and camera surveillance.

In his July 2010 remarks below the Chief described camera surveillance as especially useful in neighborhoods victimized by gangs:

To be able to use [camera surveillance] takes the wind out of the sail of the gangs. Gangs basically victimize people in their own neighborhoods because...they're fearful of reporting the crime. If we have cameras in the hotspots, where the shootings are, where the gang activity are, in particular but other places as well, we take away the intimidation factor because you can't intimidate the camera. [With that camera] you end up never going to court if you have good video, you end up bring able to get a plea bargain and the guy goes away for years...The more of those we have, if they're used strategically, if they're used constitutionally, the better off and safer we are in this city.

Chief McDonnell also acknowledged that "policing is and always will be a people business. So as much as we use technology, what it really comes down to is relationships with the police and the community being able to talk and allowing us to help you make your neighborhood safer, and you holding us accountable for doing just that."