Three years ago, the Los Angeles Police Department installed surveillance cameras in MacArthur Park, leading to a significant drop in gang activity and drug dealing in an area long considered a hotbed of crime.
But as the City Council today considers adding new cameras near the park, police officials concede that much of the existing equipment isn't working and that they don't have the money to properly maintain it.
"Some of the cameras work and some do not," said LAPD Deputy Chief Sergio Diaz. But the department will continue to build on the overall success of the program, he added.
Police data show that crime in and around the park at Wilshire Boulevard and Alvarado Street began to rise last year, but some officials say better functioning cameras could help combat that trend.
The LAPD's failure to keep the cameras operating underscores the flip side of the police seeking private donations -- a practice encouraged by Chief William J. Bratton as a crime-fighting strategy. The MacArthur Park cameras were purchased for more than $100,000 with money from private businesses as well as from a government grant.
Bratton has welcomed donations of money and equipment to help with specific projects. Such donations have helped pay for mobile fingerprint technology, predictive crime software and T-3 mobile scooters.
The cameras "were really a pro bono project and it required money, but those cameras have never been supported by city funds," Diaz said.
Despite problems, the cameras have been an unqualified success in helping reduce crime and reclaim the park for residents and families, Diaz said.
Department officials say that over time they have not had the funds to maintain donated technological equipment, such as copiers, printers, computers and security cameras.
Problems extend beyond the ability of cameras to pan the area. There have also been glitches with equipment that records and stores video images. Such data can be used as crucial evidence in securing convictions. In the case of the Rampart Division, data storage lasts only 12 hours before it is recorded over.
Rampart Division Capt. John Egan said that there have been technical glitches with the cameras, but that his department works as fast as it can to resolve the issues.
Despite the glitches, Egan and other police officials say the cameras are a needed deterrent and a valuable tool for fighting crime in the area.
