Austin’s Parks and Recreation board has decided not to recommend that the Austin City Council approve a proposed $2 million contract for surveillance cameras in parks. It would be a three-year contract that would allow a company called Live View Technologies to provide mobile security trailers and monitoring services in Austin parks.
In 2022, the Parks Department launched a pilot program to address a growing number of vehicle burglaries at various parks around the city, and it yielded positive results, officials said. The program is credited with a 76% reduction in vehicle burglaries at Covert Park at Mount Bonnell, and of the 15 parks involved, nine saw decreases almost immediately.
Amid numerous concerns voiced by the public and some city leaders, Amanda Ross, Department Manager for Austin Parks and Recreation, told the Public Safety Commission on Monday that they spent six months trying to address them.
“We do have exclusive ownership of the footage as part of the City of Austin and in the contract,” Ross said. “We have strict prohibitions on facial recognition or biometric identification technology used. And then, in addition, just an automatic deletion of data after 60 days.”
The city council is slated to discuss the proposed contract during a Tuesday work session, and is expected to take a full a vote on Thursday.
