Briefcam used by Beverly Hills Police
Information Certainty: Documented
Deployment Purpose: Surveillance
| Summary |
|---|
| Since at least 2019, the Beverly Hills Police Department has been using surveillance technologies, including Briefcam, as part of a broader initiative to monitor the city. Beverly Hills has installed about 2,000 CCTV cameras, equating to nearly one camera for every 17 residents, covering shopping districts and residential areas. The network also features intersection cameras, drones, and license plate recognition devices. In 2020, plans were made to add 900 more cameras and 50 license plate scanners at a cost of $14 million over five years. While state law restricts facial recognition use, BriefCam assists in analyzing video footage to identify specific vehicles, locations, and individuals. |
Products and Institutions:
| Product Deployed | Briefcam (Software) Unknown Products 0026 |
|---|---|
| Institutions ⠉ | Briefcam Ltd Unknown Products 0026 |
| Datasets | Briefcam (Dataset) Unknown Dataset 0062 |
| Search software |
Status and Events:
| Status | Ongoing |
|---|---|
| Events | Start (25 September 2019, Documented, , No description) |
| Start Date | |
| End Date |
Users:
| Involved Entities | Los Angeles Police Department |
|---|---|
| Managed by | Beverly Hills Police Department |
| Used by | Beverly Hills Police Department |
Location:
| City | Beverly Hills (CA) |
|---|---|
| Country ⠉ | USA |
Description[ ]
Briefcam and other unknown forms of surveillance technology are in use by Beverly Hills Police Department. It has been in use since at least 2019 when it was listed as a client of Briefcam.
For years, the Los Angeles enclave synonymous with exclusivity and privilege has been building a network of surveillance cameras that today covers much of its bustling shopping district and many residential areas. The city has about 2,000 closed-circuit cameras — nearly 1 for every 17 residents — along with others at many intersections that snap photos of drivers going through red lights, as well as drones and dozens of devices that can read license plates and automatically check them against law enforcement databases to find unregistered plates or stolen vehicles. And city leaders aren’t done. At a meeting in August 2020, when the City Council unanimously approved the purchase of a few hundred more surveillance cameras, Assistant City Manager Nancy Hunt-Coffey laid out a five-year proposal to spend $14 million for an additional 900 cameras and 50 more license plate scanners 1
I would be willing to spend more money, if necessary, to ... find the most robust artificial intelligence we can find that could be adapted to a policing environment,” Councilmember Bob Wunderlich said at the meeting this month. Stainbrook demurred, saying that while the department will eventually use such technology to automatically read and interpret footage from the city’s cameras, the potential upsides and pitfalls need to be studied more thoroughly. Wunderlich said the department is already using a type of AI technology from a company called BriefCam, but did not elaborate. Later in the meeting, Stainbrook explained that state law bars the use of facial recognition on police cameras, but BriefCam makes it possible to “review hours and hours of video and hone in on certain cars or times, locations, people, descriptions” to help authorities “quickly locate people.” 1
References
- a b c "Thousands of cameras are always watching you in Beverly Hills. And the city isn’t done". (2022) <https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-04-25/beverly-hills-thousands-surveillance-cameras> Accessed: 2022-06-26