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Benefits of Situational Awareness Cameras <br /> This technology is used globally for law enforcement purposes, with situational <br /> awareness cameras already in use in several cities in the Tri-Valley. The City of Dublin <br /> has utilized this technology for several years and has had positive outcomes directly as <br /> a result of the camera technology, citing this example: the technology was used when a <br /> suspect entered the city and conducted several auto burglaries, stealing property valued <br /> at several thousand dollars. The Dublin Police Department was able to use the cameras <br /> to identify the suspect vehicle, locate where it was in the city, and make an arrest and <br /> recover the stolen property. <br /> Retail theft generally occurs in crowded shopping malls and plazas where it is difficult to <br /> locate and apprehend suspects. Situational awareness cameras placed on major <br /> throughfares help police personnel by locating suspects and vehicles during in-progress <br /> crimes which reduces the risk to officers, suspects, and the community. <br /> The cameras are also beneficial in the event of an injury collision as described in the <br /> following scenario. During the initial 911 call, the information provided is often <br /> incomplete and delayed. If a collision occurs in an intersection equipped with a <br /> situational awareness camera, police dispatch will have the ability to point or focus the <br /> camera on the area of the collision to determine the seriousness and deploy appropriate <br /> resources. The cameras could also be viewed by the responding officers to provide <br /> information used to determine the safest way to approach the scene and appropriately <br /> respond. The response of public safety resources would be recorded to be used in the <br /> collision investigation as well as analyzed by City staff. <br /> From an investigative standpoint, situational awareness cameras can provide leads to <br /> help solve crime. Often when a crime occurs there is limited information on the suspect <br /> or their vehicle. If a direction of flight is known and coupled with recorded data from the <br /> camera network, the department can identify potential suspects and vehicles that <br /> detectives can pursue. At times when suspects have committed crimes in both <br /> Pleasanton and neighboring cities with cameras, officers are often able to work with <br /> their counterparts in neighboring cities to use their camera recordings to develop leads. <br /> Privacy <br /> Privacy and use of the recorded data would be regulated by policy and in accordance <br /> with best practice within the law enforcement profession. Staff has developed the policy <br /> recommendations with guidance from the ACLU and Electronic Frontier Foundation <br /> websites. That guidance includes the following: <br /> • Set retention date where data not tagged for criminal investigation is <br /> automatically purged after 30 days. <br /> • Data used solely by law enforcement and only to investigate situations where law <br /> enforcement reasonably believes the data is relevant to an ongoing criminal <br />