Public Surveillance Cameras in Elk Grove: Who's Watching?

Elk Grove received some national media attention last week (and a reference as "a sleepy suburb of Sacramento") in an NPR story about public surveillance cameras around the city.

"Last week I found myself sitting on a swing in Miwok Park, watching toddlers, kids and dog walkers," reporter Steve Henn said. "It couldn't have been a sleepier scene. Nonetheless, I was being watched. There was a camera right above my head."

The story goes on to say that police video surveillance–like the cameras placed in some Elk Grove parks–is a growing industry, and is being used "for policing as mundane as preventing vandalism at parks."

But who owns the cameras positioned around Elk Grove, feeding video to the authorities? It isn't the police department.

Elk Grove Police Chief Robert Lehner explained, in an email to Patch:

"The cameras referred to in the NPR story are owned and operated by private business entities and the CSD (parks).  Private businesses are not required to provide us with feeds; those that do, do so entirely voluntarily.  We do not have feeds from the inside of any business.  The CSD parks with cameras are well-marked with signs indicating that such surveillance is occurring.  None of these cameras are monitored by EGPD but recordings are accessible for purposes of investigating crimes reported for which there might be evidentiary video available.  We also have access to traffic cameras but neither are these actively monitored."

EGPD does not have any police owned and operated video surveillance cameras in public areas of the city at the present time though we do have the capability of deploying a covert camera when there is a high level of criminal activity occurring in a particular location.  When that occurs, the cameras can indeed be helpful in identification and prosecution of criminals responsible for those particular crimes. 

The cameras referred to in the NPR story are owned and operated by private business entities and the CSD (parks).  Private businesses are not required to provide us with feeds; those that do, do so entirely voluntarily.  We do not have feeds from the inside of any business.  The CSD parks with cameras are well-marked with signs indicating that such surveillance is occurring.  None of these cameras are monitored by EGPD but recordings are accessible for purposes of investigating crimes reported for which there might be evidentiary video available.  We also have access to traffic cameras but neither are these actively monitored.

EGPD very recently acquired a trailer-based surveillance camera system that we will be deploying periodically around the city to determine its ability to help deter certain types of crime.  We have not yet used that system and, when we do, it will be immediately obvious where it’s placed because it is very well marked as a police video trailer.

EGPD does own and maintain security cameras for City of Elk Grove facilities, including the police facilities.  Those are not routinely monitored but recordings are available when we need to research some type of activity on City of Elk Grove property  None of these cameras are covertly operated, all are clearly visible as security cameras.

Robert M. Lehner, Chief of Police

Elk Grove Police Department