Surveillance Cameras Await Final Go-ahead

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

January 31 -- Whether shopping on the Third Street Promenade or taking a stroll on the pier, your every move may soon be captured by police-monitored surveillance cameras posted at prime destinations.

Following a nationwide trend, City Council members in February are expected approve the use of video cameras in public places throughout Santa Monica to monitor against any terrorism threat.

The move comes in response to an incident last August where three men were reported videotaping the Santa Monica Pier in a suspicious manner. The men were questioned and released without charges by FBI officials.

Though terrorists experts have said there is no evidence the men were plotting an attack, Santa Monica Police Chief James T. Butts, Jr. pushed for the City funded pre-emptive measures, which include the estimated $1 million video system to guard against any possible future threat.

“In recognition of the way the world has changed, we owe it to our visitors to give them the safest destination possible,” Butts said during a press conference soon after the incident in 2005. “These measures are pre-emptive and are not to be considered connected to a predestined event.”

Citing "security reasons", police officials remained tightlipped when discussing several details of the proposed policy -- such as the number of cameras and their exact locations, the type of training officers monitoring the cameras will receive, what constitutes a threat and what procedures will be followed when a threat is perceived.

Police officials, however, said that none of the cameras are equipped yet with the ability to move, zoom-in or capture sound; that they will be located in the areas in and around the Promenade and pier; that the information will be stored for 90 days and that live operators will sometimes be used.

Police also said the cameras wouldn’t be restricted to guarding against terrorism.

"Theoretically, any illegal activity captured could be used against an offender" said Eric Uller, a system administrator with the Santa Monica Police Department, who is working on the program.

Graffiti artists, vandals and aggressive panhandlers could all be apprehended under the proposed policy and prosecuted for their crimes, he said.

Shortly after the incident on the pier, Butts said he supported using the cameras to fight crime.

“This equipment will also allow us to detect crimes in progress and will provide a record of criminal activity,” the chief said.

Last year, the council unanimously approved the funds needed to carry out the new program. At least one council member, however, expressed concerns.

"The arguments for homeland security are timely and compelling, but the arguments for civil liberties are timeless and equally compelling,” said Council member Kevin McKeown, who has voted against the increased presence of cameras in public spaces, such as on City buses.

”Safety must include safety from invasion of privacy,” McKeown said. "We are considering creating a retained library of images of innocent members of our community, simply living their private lives in public spaces.”

McKeown said he’s not as concerned about local police watching the videos as he is about their use by other “less trustworthy branches of government” and what they could do with the information.

“The recent federal procurement of private search engine records from Yahoo, a Santa Monica company, gives me further pause as I balance security against unforeseen abuses of the gathered data,” he said.

Local law enforcement officials, however, say there are no civil liberties issues to address.

"There is no expectation of privacy in public places," said Uller.

At least one council member agrees with that stance.

"Someone's in a public place, like in a bus, there's going to be signs there telling them they're being monitored, they don't have to go there," said Council member Pam O'Connor. "There's a whole lot of people (the video system) will provide comfort to, adding to that the perception of safety.”

O’Connor also said she supported using the cameras to halt other crimes and misdemeanors as well.

"If a crime has occurred, like if someone was attacked, and there is a chance to use that information to catch the perpetrator, we should use it,” she said. "If a law is being broken, and there's a remedy, we should use it.”

Signs will be posted warning the public they are being videotaped and disciplinary action will follow any abuse of the video system by officers assigned to monitor it, according to the staff report.

What constitutes an infraction and exactly how officers would be disciplined are both vague, and police declined to elaborate.

In last August’s incident that triggered the cameras, three men all who appeared to be of "Middle Eastern descent" were photographed videotaping the pier in a "suspicious manner," according to Santa Monica Police.