Brentwood To Get License-Plate Readers In Wake Of Recent Gang-Related Killings
BRENTWOOD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A Suffolk County community plagued by gang violence is getting dozens of license-plate readers.
About $1 million in state funds have been secured for the installation and maintenance of cameras which will be placed throughout 20 locations in Brentwood.
However, as CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reports, it could put the general public under a new level of surveillance.
License-plate readers capture plate information that can then be checked against a list of wanted suspects, missing people and stolen vehicles.
Officials are hoping the cameras could help in the investigations of gang-related murders that have occurred in recent weeks.
"A virtual cyber net around every community to prevent gang members and to resolve the crimes that are committed by many of the gang members," Assemblyman Phil Ramos, who helped secure the funds, said.
Ramos, a former Suffolk County cop, secured $1 million from the state to pay for the readers. To pay for the gang-fighting tools, dozens of cameras will be installed at unnamed intersections. He said residents in his district are tired of "lip service."
"If you choose to continue to commit crimes in our community, we will catch you with this virtual cybernet, and we as a community are pushing back," Ramos said.
Authorities said the license plate readers will not be used for traffic infractions or traffic warrants. Officers would be required to have a specific case number and articulate a reason they need to access the camera information, officials said.
Civil liberties advocates have raised some privacy concerns about how long the information is stored and who has access to it. A series of community meetings will be held to explain the camera system to residents and address privacy concerns.
Officers can "mine data'' after crimes are committed, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Timothy Sini said, by searching information collected from the license plate cameras to identify specific vehicles or filter the results by the color of a car.
"We are shaking the trees and we will keep the pressure on," Sini said.
The FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office are partnering with Suffolk's Gang Task Force.
"Essentially targeting 16- to 21-year-olds, and we are getting in their face," Sini said.
Some residents don't think the cameras are the answer to stemming gang violence.
"More police officers in the area, that's the answer," one longtime resident said.
"You gotta do what you gotta do but I don't think that's going to solve anything as far trying to catch criminals," another resident said.
Brentwood High School senior Manny Fajardo approves of the license-plate readers.
"It could happen again, who knows," Manny said. "No, I do not object. Actually go for it."
Police said they won't be spy cams. Officers will pull data from cameras based on individualized suspicion that a vehicle description could be connected to a crime.
Last week, the skeletal remains of an 18-year-old, who police said was a known MS-13 gang member, were found in a wooded area near the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center.
The discovery was made days after another man was found beaten to death in what police believe was a gang-related incident.
In September, four Brentwood High School students were found dead. All are suspected victims of gang violence.
On Sept. 13, the day before her 16th birthday, Nisa Mickens' brutally beaten body was found on a tree-lined street in Brentwood. A day later, the beaten body of her lifelong friend, 16-year-old Kayla Cuevas, was discovered in the wooded backyard of a nearby home. The teenagers had been inseparable and shared an interest in basketball.
Days later, police discovered the skeletal remains of 19-year-old Oscar Acosta and 15-year-old Miguel Garcia-Moran in a remote industrial area of the town. Acosta had been missing since May, and Garcia-Moran vanished in February.
Nearly three dozen suspected gang members have been rounded up in recent weeks.
The recent arrests include five suspected gang members who are expected to face federal racketeering charges. Officials have yet to identify them or the specific charges pending against them, citing the ongoing investigation.
Three of those found dead had been reported missing months ago and were found as part of the ongoing investigation. Sini has said, "you don't stumble upon skeletal remains by accident,'' but he has not elaborated.
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