LAPD Improves Neighborhoods and Lowers Crime With New Technology
By Ted Marquez, Law Enforcement Manager, U.S. Attorney's Office, California Central District, Los Angeles
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Since the inception of the Public Housing Safety Initiative (PHSI) in 2004 and the implementation of the goals and strategies put forth by both the U.S. Attorney's Office and the LAPD, Jordan Downs has been attempting to transcend its violent past and welcome an era of peace and prosperity. The transformation began when the LAPD addressed the most significant contributing factor to improved quality of life: reduced crime, especially violent crime.
The Jordan Downs PHSI is designed to curb criminal activity and provide a safe environment for residents in one of the city's most notorious high-crime public housing areas. Jointly developed by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Housing and Urban Development, with contributions from the LAPD and local residents, the Jordan Downs PHSI includes two central components: state-of-the-art crime-fighting technology and a coalition of easily accessible social service providers to refer residents to services such as childcare, tutoring, English as a Second Language classes, and job training and placement programs.
Statistics for 2006 reveal a staggering decrease in crime as a result of the LAPD's efforts. Residents of the target area saw a 19-percent decrease in Part I crime—that is, violent crime such as murder, armed robbery, and assault and property crime such as burglary and motor vehicle theft. Most notable is the decrease in Part I crime within Jordan Downs itself. The community saw a 40-percent decrease in these crimes, which was the most significant Part I decrease within all the reporting districts for the southeast area. Comparing Jordan Downs to its neighboring housing developments, Nickerson Gardens realized a 33-percent reduction in Part I crimes, while Imperial Courts increased in Part I crime by 2 percent.
The Motorola Mesh Solution
On March 16, 2007, Los Angeles unveiled a municipal wireless network and video surveillance system in Jordan Downs using Motorola's Mesh Enabled Architecture (MEA) technology.
Motorola's MEA technology powers some of the largest mobile mesh networks in the world. MEA-based networks are resilient in terms of interference, attacks, and failures, and the technology is easy to update and expand to meet new security needs. Motorola's mesh technology takes the structure and stability of a wired network and makes it mobile. Even when traveling at speeds over 200 miles per hour, MEA technology delivers seamless mobility for a wide variety of applications.
The wireless network now in place in Jordan Downs gives LAPD officials access to real-time information that can help them prevent crime from occurring or escalating. The structure of the surveillance system allows the police department to share critical information with other first responders and security and operations agencies—thus enabling authorized public safety personnel to respond quickly and effectively to potentially dangerous situations.
Since July 2006, the LAPD has installed seven cameras on the mobile network within Jordan Downs. The first two cameras were installed on the perimeter of the housing development, primarily to deter after-school violence against students walking home from Jordan Downs High School. The second phase of installation occurred in late December, when five additional cameras were stationed within the housing development to monitor and impede crime at problem locations.
With this new video security system, one officer can monitor an entire area that previously would have required several officers on patrol. This technology also allows officers to view video of troubled areas from the station or their patrol cars in real time using laptop computers or handheld devices. First responders also can remotely control the cameras to pan across surveillance locations and zoom in on suspected criminal activity.
Many factors contributed to specific camera placement within the community. First, community members and civic leaders were asked for their input based on their privacy and community needs. Then, a statistical approach was used to determine hotspots or problem locations. Lastly, input from outside agencies operating within the community was considered, such as the Los Angeles Unified School District's Safe Passages program and the Department of Water and Power's field services.
The Jordan Downs surveillance system will record constant video feeds from each camera and store them on a networked server. The system allows for the video to be saved to storage without interrupting the feed—a process which is called video buffering—even during off-hours when the monitors are not staffed. The buffered video allows officers to generate after-action reports based on police incidents. Once recorded, the video is encrypted (or locked) and cannot be altered, modified, or deleted. The encrypted video feeds meet all standards for criminal prosecutions and have been tested within the criminal court system in Los Angeles.
Additionally, the city plans to expand the network to supply residents and schools in the Jordan Downs area with free public wireless-broadband access to the Internet.
Additional Technology
Since July 2006, the LAPD has equipped five patrol vehicles with digital in-car video cameras, which are used only by the PHSI Camera Detail. The vehicles enable LAPD to review all traffic stops, detentions, and arrests recorded. The vehicle's video camera can be activated both automatically—such as beginning to record when officers turn on their emergency lights—or manually. In addition, the vehicles are equipped with wireless microphones for recording voices.
New handheld technology is on the streets as well. Officers who patrol the southeast area are using five handheld facial recognition devices to help them enforce gang injunctions, trespass orders, and felony and misdemeanor arrest warrants. The officer captures a facial image of the suspect using the device, then the software in the device searches for matches in a database that also is stored in the device. This database contains photos of fugitive gang members that were taken when the individuals were arrested (i.e., booking photos). The device displays the best nine matches in a 3- by 3-inch display, and the officer uses a touch screen to select the most accurate match. Upon selection, the display switches to a side-by-side image comparison between the current photo and the matching database photo. This view helps the officer to decide whether the individual was correctly identified and, if so, insert copies of the images in the arrest report. This allows judges, attorneys, and juries to see the same images that the officer saw at the time of arrest.
Moving forward, all public safety officers in the Jordan Downs area will continue to implement these high-tech crime-fighting strategies, with the addition of 10 to 15 more cameras, a mobile and stationary license plate reader, and public Internet access via the new wireless-broadband network to meet the goals of PHSI.
For more information, contact:
Ted Marquez
Law Enforcement Manager
U.S. Attorney's Office, California Central District, Los Angeles
213-894-2234
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