Compton is trying new tactics to fight crime (Olivia Niland/Neon Tommy)

The surveillance system, which is no longer in use, consisted of a video camera mounted to an airplane operated by a private company out of the Long Beach Airport. 

The public was not notified of the system, according to LASD, due to the low quality of the footage and that the city had already been utilizing video surveillance on the ground for several years.

The system, provided by Ohio-based Persistent Surveillance Systems, is intended to track criminals and not law-abiding citizens, and therefore does not constitute an invasion of privacy, said the company’s president, Ross McNutt.

“People are just one pixel,” said McNutt. “We can’t tell if a person is male or female from one pixel. All we do is follow people from the crime scene. We’ve done a lot to make sure that we don’t invade privacy. We have strict privacy policies and want to make sure this is done right.”

Compton was chosen to test the system, known as the “Hawkeye II Wide Area Airborne Surveillance System” in January 2012 due to the city’s geographic size and flat topography, according to LASD.

The surveillance system package provided by Persistent Surveillance Systems costs around $4 million and is specifically designed to be affordable for mid-sized police departments. In addition to tracking crime, McNutt said the system could be a valuable tool in deterring it.

“Because we’re open about what we do, chiefs of police want to bring in at-risk youth and let them know that their chances of getting caught are much higher, so they’re less likely to commit crimes,” said McNutt. “Our systems are basically the future, but we’re the only ones operating at a reasonable price.”

The video surveillance system's inability to easily identify individuals is a selling point for Persistent Surveillance Systems, but not for LASD. The surveillance system’s testing period in Compton ended in 2012, and the city decided not to continue use of the program due to the low resolution of the video footage and that image could only be captured in black and white, according to a LASD press release from April 22.

“The recordings reviewed by the department personnel were found to have no investigative value as discernible detail of gender, race, hair color or any other identifiable feature could not be made,” the release stated, noting that the city has employed aerial surveillance in the form of helicopters since the 1950s and video surveillance on the ground since 2007.

“We have a surveillance system, but not the kind that’s in the news where you can see people do tiny things,” said LASD Compton Station Sgt. Vincent Plair. “It’s a totally different type and different vendor. This has been an ongoing program covering different patches of the city since 2007.”

The city is in the process of incorporating additional cameras around Compton, which the police department says is consistent with the “city theme of 'Rebirthing a new Compton.'” Jurisdictions such as the South Gate, Gardena, Century City and Carson police departments currently utilize ground-level video surveillance. 

In addition to the ground-level video surveillance implemented in Compton, other tactics have been recently proposed to deter and track crime in the city, according to LASD. In the past decade, violent crimes have decreased while property crimes have increased. 

On April 17, Compton Mayor Aja Brown unveiled the early stages of a smart phone app developed by the city’s Community Policing Task Force and Youth Safety Committee to prevent and report crime, as well as help publicize crime-fighting efforts. Compton currently has an informational city app which allows citizens to report issues such as graffiti, though the new proposed app is intended to help report and track all types of crime and was designed specifically to address gang violence and human trafficking. 

It is also targeted toward tech-savvy youth, who may find themselves witnessing or being tempted to take part in criminal activities, said Melissa Freeny, liaison to the mayor of Compton.

“The community wanted something that could be a resource for youth if a crime did happen,” said Freeny. “We’re focused on giving the community a voice for their concerns. Safety in the community won’t increase with increased police. The community has to take back their own streets.”

Reach Staff Reporter Olivia Niland here. Follow Olivia Niland on Twitter @olivianiland.