Park cameras on council agenda...again

Controversial park cameras will be back before city council next month. These mobile cameras are supposed to prevent car break-ins, but there's rising concerns about surveillance. Fox 7 Austin's Angela Shen has the details. Austin Parks and Recreation had a mobile security camera trailer pilot program from 2022 to 2025. Division Manager Amanda Ross says they helped reduce car break-ins at places like Mount Bonnell and Zilker Park. One, hopefully they were a deterrent in and of themselves. And two, also that if there were concerns, that that allowed, in partnership with our police department, for that video to be pulled and provide evidence. And the police were very successful with that, too. In February, a contract with Live View Technologies came to council. But this drew protests over concerns about privacy, and the item was pulled from the agenda. Council did pass the TRUST Act, which regulates how the city uses surveillance technology. Before council votes again on the contract for park cameras, Parks and Rec has done a privacy review. ...review of the system and laid out a surveillance use policy. That's something that we've really been working through over the last six months, is working through the Trust Act and making sure we're as transparent as possible. The devices don't include license plate readers, facial recognition, or audio listening. Footage is deleted after 60 days unless it's part of an investigation. Law enforcement can only access it with detailed requests. There's no AI model training, and the vendor can't use city data. Trailer locations will be published. Units will be marked with signs. And there will be audits. Under the contract, the Parks Department could rent up to 10 trailers at a time. They'll be put in areas with high crime numbers. The contract with Live View Technologies is expected to go to council on December 3rd. It's a three-year contract with extension options for no more than $2 million over five years. What we're trying to do is really kind of put everything out there, get the feedback we can, and allow people to ask questions, right? We're a Parks Department. We support people being welcomed in a space and enjoyed. the city of Austin and want them to be here. If we're getting feedback that this isn't the right way to do that, then we can also appreciate that. But ultimately, we do think it would actually benefit the users of the park system, as well as trying to be as transparent.