CAMERAS AFTER GANGSTERS.

Byline: James Nash Staff Writer

Los Angeles police are pointing sophisticated cameras at the license plates and faces of possible criminals, a measure that has helped apprehend gang members and recover stolen cars but has raised concerns among civil-liberty activists.

Chief William Bratton announced Wednesday that the Los Angeles Police Department has rolled out cameras that scan thousands of license plates an hour and that match facial features against databases of suspects. Both systems are now in use in the Rampart Division and will be deployed citywide, Bratton said.

The LAPD already has installed dozens of cameras at fixed locations around the narcotics-plagued MacArthur Park and in heavily traveled parts of Hollywood.

The mobile cameras - now in a single Rampart police car - will help stretch the LAPD's limited resources by making it possible for a single officer to surveil thousands of cars and dozens of possible suspects during a single shift, said Capt. Charles Beck of the Rampart Division.

``We not only have to work harder but smarter to reduce crime,'' Beck said. ``The path we've taken is technology, technology that augments the capabilities of officers.''

The license plate scanning technology has been used with relatively little controversy in London; Manalapan, Fla.; and several other areas. The California Highway Patrol is testing a system.

The facial recognition software has a spottier history. It was deployed in Tampa, Fla., during the 2001 Super Bowl but dismantled two years later when Tampa officials declared it ineffective. The technology also has been rolled out on the boardwalk of Virginia Beach, Va.

Ricardo Garcia, criminal justice director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said police surveillance of license plates and faces raises questions about both privacy and the reliability of the technology.

Garcia questioned whether police would pursue innocent people whose license plates were switched by criminals. And he said the facial recognition software can lead to relatives of criminals being apprehended because they share facial features. Similarly, wanted suspects may elude detection because their features change as they age, Garcia said.

``This eliminates the judicial requirement of a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity in order to pull someone over,'' Garcia said of the license plate scanning. ``They just have to react to an electronic hit.''

Bratton said he isn't concerned about privacy arguments, noting that neither type of camera is meant to be used behind closed doors.

``I'm not worried about that at all,'' he said. ``It's public spaces - just as you and I are able to see with our eyes.

``If you're not wanted for something, you have nothing to fear.''

Garcia responded that the same argument could justify police cameras in bedrooms, since law-abiding citizens shouldn't fear cameras there either.

Beck said the facial recognition software eventually will be able to scan a crowd of people on the street corner to identify fugitives and others wanted by police. Beck predicted that the camera technology would be ``omnipresent'' in the future.

Both technologies cost $20,000 to $30,000 per car. Police said they hope to expand the systems citywide as quickly as possible but are constrained by costs.

The license plate scanning system debuted in December at the Topanga mall in Woodland Hills, when police scanned thousands of cars in the parking lot and access roads.

The facial recognition software was first deployed in the Rampart division around the same time. Police said the system has helped arrest more than 20 gang members since then.

James Nash, [phone]

james.nash(at)dailynews.com