1 week Ago
Baton Rouge Police work the scene of a drive-by shooting homicide on northbound Interstate 110 near the Hollywood Street exit on Aug. 29, in Baton Rouge. Trene Walls was driving when someone pulled up beside her and shot into her car, killing her, police said.
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Two police cameras will be installed to surveil Baton Rouge's interstates, donated by the nonprofit Baton Rouge Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Foundation. The new cameras come during a year with a high number of deaths related to drive-by shootings . Eight people have been killed in the parish in 2024 in drive-by shootings and more have been injured, reports show.
"We saw what was happening on the interstate, so we're putting eyes on parts of the parish with blind spots," said Clay Young, chairperson for the nonprofit. The cameras will be going up in the northern parts of the parish, but the exact locations will not be released, Young said. The final placement of the cameras will be left to the relevant agency, either the Baton Rouge Police Department or the Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office, based on jurisdiction in the area.
The nonprofit is paying for the installation. It already has more than 100 police cameras placed throughout the parish as part of its Page/Rice Public Safety Initiative. The new interstate cameras will come equipped with license plate readers, in order to help identify vehicles involved in shootings and other crimes.
Each camera unit costs between $5,500 and $7,500. The cameras are fully independent from the grid, powering themselves through solar panels and reporting their data through a cellular connection rather than a wire. The Page/Rice initiative has placed cameras that utilize license plate readers in the past, including four such cameras around the Mall of Louisiana.
Young said the locations of those cameras is made known in order to deter violent crimes near an area with large numbers of children. The interstate cameras, on the other hand, will have more use identifying suspects after a shooting has already taken place, Young said. Page/Rice cameras placed in high foot-traffic areas are equipped with technology to identify suspects' faces, while others use AI tools to detect if firearms are being brandished.
All of the police cameras funded by the nonprofit are connected directly to law enforcement agencies, allowing police to access the footage without first securing a warrant, as would be required with a traditional closed-circuit television camera connected to a business. According to Young, the initiative is meant to "honor the namesakes, who were victims of crimes where no one came forward with eyewitness evidence." Young believes the cameras will help catch those responsible for similar killings, where witnesses might be too intimidated to come forward.
"We're also just supplying (law enforcement) with extra eyes," Young said. The nonprofit is funded through both grants and private donations. It hopes to expand with more cameras, both on and off the interstate, in the future, Young said.
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