Those long-delayed public security cameras will be going up at five test locations along Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood beginning Aug. 13.
The installation is part of a test by the city of the feasibility, cost, optimal locations and effectiveness of such cameras, which are intended to help public safety officers solve crimes and to deter criminals from committing them.
The city has chosen three companies to install the cameras at five intersections along Santa Monica Boulevard. The companies and the locations are:
— Konica Minolta (intersections of Santa Monica Boulevard with Fairfax and La Brea.
— Radius AI (intersections of Santa Monica Boulevard with Robertson and San Vicente.
— Verizon (intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and La Cienega)
City Council members at a meeting in March criticized City Hall for the length of time it was taking to begin the test, which was authorized in September 2016.
The Council in December 2015 directed the city’s Public Safety Commission and the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station to study the possibility of installing video systems in public areas. The Public Safety Commission established a subcommittee to study the feasibility of such a program, its possible cost and where such cameras should be installed. In September 2016, the City Council authorized the city’s Public Safety Department to request proposals from contractors who would evaluate the capabilities and costs for cameras in public places and design such a program. Two months later, the Public Safety Department reached out to seek such proposals, with a deadline of Jan. 5, 2017. It received 13 responses and narrowed the list to two qualified applicants, who it later decided were not satisfactory.
Six months later, in June 2017, the project was transferred from the Public Safety Department to the city’s Innovation Division, which was working on a plan to “weave technology into the city’s infrastructure. ” The Innovation Division researched possibilities, which included interviewing public safety officials in Beverly Hills, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and the federal Department of Homeland Security.
