Staff Writer
Long Beach’s newest crime-fighting video technology, Long Beach COP, was unveiled by Police Chief Jim McDonnell and Mayor Bob Foster on Monday.
Two years in the works, Long Beach Common Operating Picture, a state-of-the-art technology and real-time crime analysis center, integrates camera systems from around the city including police helicopters, parks, businesses and residences, to relay information to officers responding to critical incidents.
Accessing diverse databases, criminal intelligence and video feeds, LBCOP can keep officers informed as a criminal situation is unfolding, McDonnell said. This can include a suspect’s license plate number, description and address, as well as guns registered to that address. In addition, post-incident footage can be utilized in the follow-up investigation and as evidence for the prosecution.
“This is a great law-enforcement tool,” said Foster. “We can get a lot of information down to the police on the street, and we can make sure that we provide a safer environment for everybody in the city of Long Beach.”
By allowing police to access citywide video and digitally recorded images though privately owned cameras, investigative resources can be more speedily coordinated and disseminated to responding officers. Utilizing a compatible modem with LBCOP, community partners’ video streams are linked to LBCOP by using an Internet protocol.
At present, 400 business and residential locations have partnered with LBCOP, and that enrollment will continue to grow as additional community partners join throughout the city.
“In this time of reduced budgets and decreasing resources, our community-police partnerships continue to be one of the most effective ways of making our community safer,” McDonnell said. “Long Beach COP is our real-time crime analysis that enables us to provide both pre- and post-arrival information to officers responding to critical incidents.”
Responding to crimes in progress, defining location parameters, and knowing the scope of a fire can be assisted by the images received via LBCOP. Foster said a much higher level of safety may be possible for residents, especially during large events like the Long Beach Grand Prix.
“This is a great tool for us in the event of an earthquake to be able to use this with the emergency operations center downstairs,” McDonnell said. “[We will be] able to get a situational assessment as to the condition of bridges and other critical infrastructure sites throughout the city, [including] railways.”
LBCOP is in its “infancy” and not fully operational yet but proven its value to us already, McDonnell said. “We expect the system to run at its full potential in the coming months, and it will continue to develop and improve as technology does.” An optimally staffed LBCOP system would include an analyst, a police officer and a dispatcher.
The system, including standard and high-definition cameras, was purchased primarily with state and federal grant funding, homeland security funds, and “a small amount” of LBPD’s general fund. Moving forward, the City will be responsible for a portion of the system’s maintenance, but police will continue to seek grant funding to offset those costs.
McDonnell said the HD cameras will allow police to read a license plate from a helicopter and he hopes for future grant funds to purchase video streaming technology in patrol cars.
With respect to privacy, the areas monitored by participating cameras are open to the public and where citizens cannot expect a reasonable expectation of confidentiality. “We’re very sensitive to the fact that we’re not sitting here monitoring any particular location unless there’s a reason to monitor that from a crime or Homeland Security perspective,” McDonnell said.
The installation of LBCOP is not intended to replace personnel but to maximize efficiency and technologies to ensure greater community and officer safety.
“As much as we can monitor things from here and the benefit that gives us, we still need the people in the field to be doing the investigation, the follow-up, the apprehension and providing that community level of service,” McDonnell said.
