MONTEBELLO, Calif. — A camera with a sensor that is supposed to react to the sound of aerosol cans is among new defenses against graffiti.
The Montebello Police Department’s new $1 million anti-graffiti system includes certain cameras equipped with the “tagger trap,” designed to catch taggers red-handed along city streets and in parks. The system, produced by Pasadena, Calif.-based Axium Technologies Inc., includes a sensor that company and police officials said reacts to the sound emitted from an aerosol can up to 80 feet away.
When triggered, the system notifies authorities quickly through an electronic link to police headquarters, they said.
Officials said they plan to install about 120 cameras around the city by the end of December. Of those, 25 will include the special sensors, while the others will provide standard surveillance, officials said.
“Even if we don’t catch them in the act, the activity is recorded, so we can always go and rewind,” said detective Ismael Navarro.
Navarro said city officials hope the new system will help reduce the cost of painting over graffiti by 40 percent to 50 percent within three to four years.
“A million dollars is a lot of money, but we’re spending close to $700,000 a year repairing graffiti,” Navarro said.
Each camera equipped with the latest technology costs $20,000 to $30,000.
The city of Los Angeles has 65 surveillance cameras that snap photos when triggered by a motion detector and play a recorded announcement warning taggers to stop and leave. Those cameras cost about $3,000 each, said Paul Racs of the Public Works Department.
In Chicago and Washington D.C., there are camera systems that can detect the sound of gunshots and alert authorities, said Mike Fergus, a manager for the video evidence project at the International Association of Chiefs of Police in Alexandria, Va.
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