Downey could install live surveillance cameras downtown

DOWNEY — The Downey City Council on Tuesday will consider a request from the interim police chief to install six surveillance cameras in Downtown Downey, providing officers with live surveillance feeds of the downtown area.

The proposal also includes eight automated license plate reader cameras. The cameras capture all license plate numbers that come into view, along with the location, date, and time.

“If the license plate comes back to either a stolen or wanted vehicle, it alerts officers,” Acting Police Chief Scott Loughner wrote in a report to the council. “Downey Police routinely recover stolen vehicles and arrest occupants of vehicles that are wanted in conjunction with other crimes. Police detectives also utilize license plate data to assist with investigative leads where a vehicle is involved in cases they are working on.”

The Downey Police Department recommended installing the cameras along Firestone Boulevard, between Dolan Avenue and Paramount Boulevard, and on Downey Avenue, between Firestone and 3rd Street.

The cost of the cameras, including installation and maintenance, is $138,900 over a three-year term.

Flock Safety was chosen to install the cameras, which also provides surveillance services for police departments in Bell Gardens, South Gate and Whittier, along with the the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.