The city of Los Angeles is planning to install public cameras in neighborhoods along the Vermont Avenue corridor as an expansion to a current program intended to reduce graffiti. According to Police Chief William Bratton, the installation of a single video camera at Lake Street Park was extremely helpful in cutting “tagging” by up to 60 percent.
As part of the same program, which is called Uniting Neighborhoods to Abolish Graffiti (UNTAG), officials set aside $500,000 to install 12 additional cameras next year, according to The Los Angeles Times.
The Los Angeles program is based on a model used in San Jose where officials saw a 70-percent drop in graffiti activity during the past 10 years.
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has also had success stopping crime with camera installations in MacArthur Park and Hollywood.
For an exclusive report on the Hollywood CCTV installation, see the September issue of SSI.
