Vehicles will get their close-ups
In fight against crime, a gated community turns to cameras that read license plates.
In fight against crime, a gated community in Huntington Beach turns to cameras that read license plates.
In the last two years, residents of a Huntington Beach gated community have reported eight incidents in which cars parked in the complex’s garages have had their tires stolen.
“It’s really ramped up,” Chad Frew, a board member on the Seabridge Villas condominium homeowners association, said of the thefts. “You do your due diligence, but it’s an entirely different story when your tires are removed.”
Now the 344 residents of Seabridge are fighting back by installing license plate reading cameras to document the comings and goings at the complex, near the intersection of Beach Boulevard and Adams Avenue.
As it looked to increase security, the homeowners association solicited bids for conventional camera systems, only to find they were “either very expensive or required a lot more infrastructure than we were prepared to pay for,” Frew said.
The search eventually led Seabridge to Flock Safety, an Atlanta company that makes solar-powered license plate-reading cameras that use motion-detecting shutters to capture images whenever a vehicle, cyclist, pedestrian or errant pet enters the frame.
At a cost of $4,000, Seabridge has leased two cameras for one year to monitor vehicles entering and leaving the community. They were installed about four months ago.
Frew acknowledged that some residents were at odds over the idea of heightened security, but he defended the association’s decision.
“This isn’t an invasion of privacy,” he said. “These are public areas.”
The cameras’ data is encrypted and can be accessed only by the property’s management company.
However, any resident who has been the victim of a crime can get short-term access to collect photos or information that might be relevant for law enforcement. Images are automatically deleted after 30 days.
And what have been the results so far? “Unfortunately, no smoking guns, per se,” Frew said.
The HOA has received only one request for access to the data. Seabridge residents also have been urged to register their vehicles into the system. “Out of 344 residents, we’ve had around 65 people” do so, Frew said.
He said he hopes the cameras will have a positive effect but conceded there isn’t a reliable way to monitor every front door and parking spot.
“Honestly, it’s more of a tool or resource,” he said. “That’s how it was brought to the community.”