If you live in Oakland, California, then prepare to be watched, followed, and tracked. Big time. State Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday he is sending hundreds of high-tech surveillance cameras to be installed across the city and surrounding freeways to battle rising crime.
The Democrat said in a news release the California Highway Patrol has contracted with Flock Safety to install 480 cameras that can identify and track vehicles by license plate, type, color and even decals and bumper stickers.
The cameras will provide authorities with real-time alerts of suspect vehicles, AP reports.
Newsom dismisses any criticism of the move and its infringement on privacy, saying the surveillance network will give law enforcement tools “to effectively combat criminal activity and hold perpetrators accountable — building safer, stronger communities for all Californians.”
The city of roughly 400,000 across the bay from San Francisco has seen crime continue to rise in the past 12 months with no sign of it easing anytime soon.
Per an August 2023 report, murders are up 37 percent compared to four years earlier. Robberies jumped 30 percent.
Car break-ins exploded by 40 percent, and car thefts “more than doubled.”
Oakland NAACP: People Afraid to Walk to Mailboxes Due to Crime Spawned by Defunding Police, Lax Prosecution
In-N-Out Burger closed its only restaurant in Oakland — the first closure in its 75-year history — due to car break-ins, property damage, theft and robberies, as Breitbart News reported.
Elsewhere the CEOs of four major employers in downtown Oakland announced plans for a joint $10 million security program to improve public safety and protect employees.
The companies are Blue Shield of California, Clorox, Kaiser Permanente and Pacific Gas & Electric.
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