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File Number: 20-150 <br />BACKGROUND <br />The City Council has heard on numerous occasions about the increasing importance of camera <br />and video technology as part of public safety operations and previously directed the San Leandro <br />Police Department to develop a proposal for their potential installation. Working with the City’s <br />Information Technology (IT) Division and in alignment with the goals of the adopted Fiber Optic <br />Master Plan & Smart City Strategy, staff identified ten locations where new cameras would <br />benefit these goals. <br />Analysis <br />In response to the City Council’s request for a data-driven proposal for public safety cameras, <br />staff analyzed data related to criminal activity and used that analysis to develop a draft list of <br />potential locations for public safety cameras. The data analyzed included: violent crimes, property <br />crimes, arrest data, and capacity for investigative assistance. <br />The first step in exploring potential public safety camera locations was to collect and analyze <br />reported crime activity. This data included violent crimes and property crimes reported under the <br />FBI’s Universal Crime Reporting (UCR) standard (for more information, see: <br /><https://www.ucrdatatool.gov/offenses.cfm>). This data set represents the current national <br />standard that agencies use in reporting criminal activity by jurisdiction to the federal government. <br />Staff analyzed the data by generating a density (i.e. “hot spot”) map reflecting three years of UCR <br />crime by geographical area. The areas displaying the highest concentration of reported crime <br />were then ranked from highest to lowest as the first step in determining camera placement. <br />Next, Police Department staff partnered with the City’s Department of Engineering and <br />Transportation staff to evaluate the density map as well all points where vehicles may presently <br />enter or leave the City. By analyzing arrest data for the last 5 years, staff determined that most <br />subjects arrested in the City for robbery and/or burglary were found not to be residents of San <br />Leandro. In fact, only about 20% of subjects arrested for robbery or burglary were residents of <br />San Leandro at the time of arrest, which becomes an important factor to consider when <br />determining where, and how, suspects may flee after committing a crime and looking for <br />investigative leads. Due to the relatively small geographical area of our city, with limited entry and <br />exit points, offenders who do not live in San Leandro would likely have to enter and/or exit the City <br />via one of several main thoroughfares. Additionally, it is much more difficult to find and apprehend <br />a suspect once they have left City limits. Based on interviews with offenders who come into San <br />Leandro to commit crimes, they are aware of this fact and use it to their advantage. Placing <br />cameras at strategic locations within the City to cover main ingress and egress routes may assist <br />with deterring this inclination and provide valuable investigative leads for staff. <br />The last factor that staff examined when determining potential camera sites was to identify those <br />locations that offer the highest potential for providing investigative leads for solving cases. Staff <br />took into account locations where major case investigations took place where cameras were <br />instrumental in providing valuable leads for investigations, apprehending suspects, and the <br />prosecution of serious crimes and serial offenders. Staff defined “major” investigations to include: <br />homicide, kidnap, rape, robbery, shootings and assault with a deadly weapon, fatal vehicle <br />Page 2 City of San Leandro Printed on 4/15/2020 <br />680