Automatic License Plate Reading (ALPR) cameras are now monitoring Olive and Fountain and are headed for many other intersections in West Hollywood, too, an expansion of the L.A. County Sheriff Department technology that allows them to identify specific vehicles out of the tens of thousands that pass through town every day.
This past spring, City Council approved 39 new ALPR cameras to be placed across WeHo in undisclosed locations, part of a major investment this year in public safety technologies. The city previously had one ALPR camera at the intersection of La Brea and Santa Monica.
“They are programmed to alert us about stolen vehicles or vehicles involved in serious crimes like murder or robbery,” Bill Moulder, captain of the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station, told WEHOville in June. “They do not notify us about expired registrations or other minor issues. If a specific license plate is of interest, we can search the system for it, making these tools highly effective.”
At City Council’s Public Safety meeting this month, Moulder noted that ALPR cameras in Beverly Hills were crucial in the capture of the suspects behind the assault rifle armed robbery at La Boheme in WeHo this year.
The cost of the new cameras was $297,000, according to data shared in the city’s Mid-Year Budget Meeting.
While paid for by the city, the ALPR cameras are only accessible to the Advance Surveillance and Protection (ASAP) Unit of the L.A. Sheriff’s Department, which manages all the hardware and data storage for the system.
The city is also in the process of procuring fixed cameras for placement in high-crime areas. (ALPR cameras only take still frames photos; they do not record video.) Drones will also soon be utilized as part of the sheriff’s arsenal, performing a role similar to that of the ubiquitous LAPD helicopters often seen pursuing getaway vehicles or fleeing criminals.
Moulder sees many benefits to having additional surveillance tools at the department’s disposal, particularly the drones.
“It would absolutely improve response times and allow us to focus more effectively on urgent matters,” Moulder said. “For instance, using drones or aerial first responders can sometimes be faster than deploying deputies, especially given the traffic conditions in West Hollywood. These aerial units can provide real-time video feeds to our deputies, helping to quickly identify suspects and clarify situations. Additionally, the use of body cameras and aerial footage would add another layer of transparency to our department’s operations.”
As far as price is concerned, under 10k/cam is pretty good. these cameras need a lot to operate in a very complex environment and are often far more expensive than the ones I use. They need the ability to process every plate that passes by at each light change and from many, far from ideal, angles and when those plates are often only visible from 1-3 frames. That image also needs to be of sufficient quality to view vehicles moving in 12 different directions. Those cameras need to function in all weather situations for over a decade and resist vandals… Read more »
ALPRs are already everywhere and the ease with which the databases can be accessed is, quite frankly, frightening. Running a place with the biggest aggregators in the country can be done by pretty much anyone who is willing to pay the price. We’re talking banks, bounty hunters, & private investigators. There is no reason to believe that these new devices will be excluded from these databases, as not doing so is not practical when integrating with law enforcement systems. As far as where they are already located. Every law enforcement and parking enforcement vehicle has one. I have a few… Read more »
Technological creep in action. It’s just reading license plates, not like it’s tracking faces. It’s just drones to assist first responders, not like they are retrofitted to carry weapons. It’s just cute delivery robots, not like robot dogs are roaming the streets. It’s just for your safety, until it’s not.
I support public safety and the City procuring the tools needed for it.
me too!
Wake me when they determine where the “high crime” areas are.
What a terrible turn to become another surveillance city.
Not safer; more spied upon.
Agreed!
I’m a law abiding citizen with nothing to fear from surveillance cameras. They see nothing more than anyone else walking/driving on public streets and sidewalks. The only ones who should fear them are those hell bent on breaking the law and doing harm to other and their property. It’s unfortunate that’s where we are as a society but until kids are brought up with good examples (it starts with their upbringing/family) and we get tougher on those that commit crimes…this is where we will be and only get worse. I’m all for any tool that helps catch and deter the… Read more »
Parents attending school board meetings, those that questioned the covid narrative, real journalists and unassuming users of social media have all been targeted. Make no mistake about it— DHS/DOD/intelligence apparatus have explicitly identified YOU the threat they wish to neutralize.
This is good news, especially if the drones can fire rockets at out of control food delivery robots.
It’s well known that when Criminals Steal Cars or use them in a crime,they take off the license plate and replace them with a Fake Paper Plate…
Do the cameras read front license plates AND rear license plates?
Many drivers don’t install front license plates. There don’t seem to be any tickets/penalties for driving with only a rear license plate.
You can get a ticket for it by police or parking enforcement I know from experience
They read front or rear plates depending on the angle. A camera facing NE on SMB can only see the front of plates passing in certain directions.
So Campbell, CA paid $2500 per camera and $250 to install it. West Hollywood paid $297,000 for one camera.
Does the city have Chat GPT or Google’s Bard? There’s also new software that for $50 makes any camera an ALPR and tests show it’s on par with the more expensive system. There should be a criminal investigation over wasting money like this. Someone is defrauding the city to help a friend or the city is incompetent. I’m guessing both.
Right, for that cost it should be implementing AI/ML to analyze if license plate matches make/model/color of registration as criminals that come here to commit armed robbery, smash and grabs and catalytic converter theft often swap out their plates.
Can it also alert sheriff when the license plate isn’t associated with active car insurance as required by state law. Some may call this a minor issue, but I’ve know drivers, pedestrians and cyclists who’ve been hit by uninsured motorists over the years which results in a great financial burden to themselves.
Absolutely agree! While I once had concerns about speed cameras being overly strict, the situation changes drastically on streets like Fountain and Crescent Heights, which have essentially turned into non-stop drag strips. Speeding, especially with excessively loud vehicles going over 100 miles per hour, has escalated into a major safety issue for West Hollywood. And let’s not forget the persistently problematic potholes. The lack of improvement indicates a clear enforcement gap. It’s high time we prioritize this for everyone’s safety. The existing laws just need effective enforcement, and technology can help redirect police attention to more serious crimes. We need… Read more »
I read it wrong. It’s for 39 cameras, so about $7600 each, still triple what most other cities have paid.
well said! lanterns we’re not needed as well Fire-station lights that don’t get used, holes not getting filled on north san vicente, that horrible bump that rips ur front out by saban clinic on beverly… the list goes on. WeHo council leaders would rather take trips to isreal or give a key to the city to a porn star than do their job
It’s likely called G R A F T. There are monuments to it throughout West Hollywood. Behind City Hall stands Exhibit # 1 R O B O G A R A G E.
The city probably intentionally overpaid because maybe the company gives the amount of vacation time that Sepi approves of. Or maybe they are anti abortion like Block by Block’s parent company. These are guesses but you can be sure someone at city hall is getting some benefit. What a waste cause that one camera could almost pay for 1/3 of a room for a homeless at the Holloway Shelter.
I don’t think anyone on this CC is capable of assessing or determining a cost/benefit analysis of city expenditures. They are simply “Yes men” (& women) when it comes to approving expenses like this of which they know nothing. If this is so and can be clearly proven, that WeHo paid $297,000.00 for a comparable or as good & as effective a camera that So Campbell paid $2,500.00 for, then heads should roll. There is absolutely no one on this council that has ever publicly spoken to such horrendous waste because they’re not qualified & don’t have the knowledge when… Read more »
A big part of this is the volume plates a camera can read along with a ton of other factors. Chat GPT and Bard are TEXT based ML systems, thus are not applicable to this situation. Video is actually far much further along and is processed by a purpose built chip (ASIC) in camera (cloud processing costs a lot more over the life of the camera). Depending on the volume of traffic, the intersection size, the angle of the street, etc; the required processing power of those ASICs can vary and they alone can range from $75-$500, and thats what… Read more »
A law and order decision followed through. Fantastic! Pigs really do fly.
Captain Moulder is one of the few assets in WeHo. Leadership certainly isn’t coming from council or city hall.
West Hollywood has had a number of “charismatic” station captains over the years who have been very popular but Captain Moulder has provided low key, unflappable leadership and has been one of the most effective leaders we have ever had at the WeHo Sheriff’s station. Under his leadership we have weathered several well organized efforts to de-fund local law enforcement yet Moulder has managed to inspire confidence in the community and raise morale among the deputies through all the attacks.
We are really blessed to have his leadership at this critical moment in time.
Fantastic. A good decision out of city hall. Finally.