Newly expanded police camera network leads officers to arrests after Old Sacramento robbery
A police camera network recently expanded to incorporate security surveillance feeds from homes and businesses led officers to find and arrest a group of suspects accused of robbing a 13-year-old Friday night in Old Sacramento.
The robbery was reported about 7:15 p.m. in the pedestrian tunnel along the 200 block of K Street, said Officer Anthony Gamble, a Sacramento Police Department spokesman. The tunnel goes under Interstate 5 and leads to downtown Sacramento.
The 13-year-old victim flagged down officers in the area and reported the robbery. Gamble said a gold necklace was taken from the victim.
As officers investigated at the scene, another officer logged into the Public Safety Camera Network.
The Police Department’s camera network includes feeds from security cameras at homes and business registered into the program. Those registered give officers digital access to their security cameras to aid in criminal investigations or emergencies.
Police said the officer who logged into the camera network Friday evening was able to see a portion of the reported robbery and determine what clothing the suspects were wearing.
Officers, using the information gathered through the network, found and detained the robbery suspects.
Gamble said the officers later arrested a 16-year-old, a 15-year-old boy, an 18-year-old Sacramento man and an 18-year-old Elk Grove man on suspicion of robbery and criminal conspiracy.
He said a 26-year-old Sacramento man among the detained suspects was arrested on a felony warrant that included charges of resisting arrest, grand theft and organized retail theft. Officers also detained an 11-year-old who was later released to a parent.
The Police Department said voluntary camera registration doesn’t grant live video access to the police department; it only provides camera location information to investigators and officers responding to an incident.
The program, however, does offer an option to upgrade the registered security cameras to provide live video feeds to officers during responses to emergencies.
The police network also includes public cameras already owned by the Police Department and installed in areas throughout the city, along with city-owned cameras, such as security cameras installed at municipal buildings and facilities, along with traffic cameras installed at Sacramento intersections.
The camera network, which its web page indicates is up to 806 cameras, integrates into one digital system several sources of information. The new program integrates into one computer system public and private video feeds, along with 911 and computer-aided-dispatch, officer geo-location and tips from the public submitted on social media and other online platforms.
