STOPPING FREEWAY KILLERS COPS WANT CAMERAS TO RECORD SHOOTINGS.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

With fear running high in Southern California after four fatal freeway shootings, law enforcement officials urged Caltrans on Tuesday to reverse its policy and hook up recording devices to hundreds of freeway monitoring cameras to help deter such incidents or catch suspects after they occur.

Police and California Highway Patrol officials said the cameras, used by Caltrans to monitor traffic congestion and other freeway conditions, could be a vital tool in catching the gunmen who have killed four people and wounded a fifth since March 12.

A veteran California Highway Patrol supervisor with an extensive background in freeway shooting investigations said the CHP and other agencies have repeatedly asked Caltrans to hook up the cameras to recording devices.

``They basically say they don't care about being in the crime-fighting business and claim poverty ... even though the cost is (virtually) nothing and every 7-Eleven has a system. They are prevalent in Europe and at intersections throughout the United States. They are universally successful,'' said the officer, while noting Caltrans' multimillion-dollar spending on its new 14-story office building in downtown Los Angeles.

``But Caltrans - with all their technological engineering expertise - just can't figure out how to hook up all those video cameras to VCRs and occasionally change the tapes,'' added the officer, who requested anonymity out of fear of repercussions.

Officials with Caltrans - the California Department of Transportation - failed to respond to repeated requests for comment.

Other law enforcement officials echoed the belief that recording devices on freeway cameras might help catch suspects and save lives, but they suggested there might be some concerns about the ``Big Brother'' aspect.

``It would be nice if we had camera systems that recorded shooting incidents on the freeways,'' said Los Angeles Police Department Detective Sal LaBarbera, who is investigating the April 13 shooting death of James Wiggins, 47, on the 110 Freeway.

``These cameras are only used to monitor freeway traffic and do not record.''

Sheriff's homicide Detective Paul Delhauer said the cameras would allow investigators to capture and analyze information from crimes that frequently have no witnesses.

``When they commit this crime, they are gone in a flash,'' sheriff's homicide Capt. Ray Peavy said. ``They fire a gun two or three times, accelerate the car, and they are out of there. Obviously, if there were cameras up there to capture this action, it would be helpful to us.''

Manny Padilla, chief of the Southern Division of the CHP, said he understood there might be some concerns about using the freeway cameras for law enforcement purposes.

``What I do know about freeway cameras is they always cause a stir with the public in general, with regard to the 'Big Brother is watching' attitude,'' he said.

``While it would come in handy if you were looking for a murder suspect, think what would happen if people started getting tickets in the mail for unsafe lane changes.''

But state Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, said it makes sense to hook up the cameras to recording devices to help catch freeway killers.

``I realize there are some privacy advocates who are very uncomfortable with that, but when you are out in public you have no reasonable expectation of privacy, and the benefit for law enforcement should be obvious,'' said McClintock, who is vice chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.

``Of the two very important tools that law enforcement has had available to it, one is DNA and the other is the ubiquitous security camera in virtually every store in the state. The freeway cameras would be an important addition to that pool of information.''

Investigators say they have no suspects in the shootings, and they have been unable to determine whether the shooting are connected. Detectives worry, however, that the most recent killings were copycat shootings - phenomena last seen in the summer of 1987, when about two dozen shootings plagued Southern California freeways.

LaBarbera said the LAPD's Southwest Division investigates about a half-dozen freeway shootings annually on a short stretch of the 110. And while Padilla said the CHP doesn't track the number of freeway shootings, the CHP supervisor estimated that the agency gets about 100 reports of shots being fired on Los Angeles County freeways each year.

``We have begun saturating the freeways with additional patrols off and on throughout the day,'' Padilla said. ``Our goal is to bring back a comfort level to the motoring public - that it's safe to traverse those freeways.

``With all this stepped-up enforcement presence, we are even asking our undercover investigators to get more involved and our auto-theft investigators to be more vigilant.''

As the freeways have become more congested, law enforcement officials say, they've seen an increase in incidents of road rage and people becoming less courteous on the roads.

Meanwhile, people using cell phones to call 911 to report freeway shootings are often put on hold for extended periods because the CHP communications system is continually overwhelmed with people using their cell phones to make nonemergency requests, such as for directions to Disneyland or help in dealing with misbehaving children, officials said.

About 30 percent of the 120,000 calls to 911 from cell phones last month were dialed erroneously or by people who inadvertently pushed a button programmed to dial that emergency number, officials said. The average time people spend on hold is 63 seconds.

Troy Anderson, [phone]

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com

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