As I’m sure many have noticed, there have recently been cameras set up throughout the city of Yorba Linda surveying the streets. With recent requests for installation of cameras to find car theft and expose other criminal activity throughout the city. According to the Orange County Register, a “recent request by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department for Yorba Linda to install license plate reader cameras throughout the 20-square-mile city has been approved.”

The cameras were installed in order to enhance the ability to find stolen vehicles, find people of interest, and conduct investigations. These cameras better ensure the safety of the citizens of Yorba Linda. Many residents in Yorba Linda claim that they feel safer under the watch of the city and security to track criminal activity and ensure that it doesn’t reach them or their families.

The Atlanta-based Flock Safety Company installed thirty six cameras on many of the city’s traffic signals and street light poles as well as some newly installed poles. According to assistant city manager Dave Chritian, flock security and safety cameras are unique because their “user-interface software provides a simple search of the database with unlimited user license. With the software, law enforcement can receive hotlist alerts and create custom alerts for plates under investigation.” Atlanta-based Flock Safety Company’s cameras are used in more than six hundred cities and thirty eight states. Twelve cities in Orange County use these cameras, with Fullerton and Buena Park among them.

Christian claims that it is important to note that all data will be transmitted in encrypted form directly from the cameras to the cloud storage where it can be accessed only by law enforcement for a period of one year. In addition, the cameras do not include facial recognition or video recording properties. These cameras only capture images of the rear vehicles and are not used for red light infractions or moving violations. Emma Reiss has a camera “set up outside my neighborhood watching over the cars that enter and exit. It makes me feel safer and more protected than before.”

These cameras are a significant step toward a safer city and safer community. It is important that we have clean streets for our children to walk down and a crime-free city to ensure the safety of our families, for the safety of our schools, and the safety of our students who have bright futures ahead of themselves. For our grandparents and cousins and parents, siblings and friends. We deserve to live in a safe city where we don’t need to feel worried for ourselves and our loved ones each day. Yorba Linda has always been one of the safest cities in the nation and will continue to be because of actions like these.