The man in the hoodie skulked around a building, then spray-painted his tag onto the back wall of a business.
He thought no one was looking.
But the bulbous lens of a surveillance camera recorded his every move and beamed the images to the LAPD's Mission Division.
Police say thanks to one of the nine new wireless cameras overlooking streets in Panorama City and North Hills, the suspected vandal was arrested.
"These cameras are going to give us extra leverage in our coverage area," LAPD Mission Division Capt. Bill Scott said Monday as he unveiled the devices during a news conference. "It does give us that ability for preventing crime in the first place."
The cameras were paid for by $360,000 from the Community Redevelopment Fund in City Councilman Richard Alarc�n's district.
Authorities say the cameras will provide another valuable tool in protecting the Mission area - where crime has steadily declined since the station was built in 2005, said Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese, the Valley's commanding officer.
In just the last three years, violent crimes such as homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault have plunged by 19 percent in Arleta, Mission Hills and Sylmar, according to LAPD statistics.
But Panorama City and North Hills still have
problems with illegal parties, property crimes and vandalism, Albanese said - troubles the cameras may help curtail."We're very pleased crime has dropped in the last year, but that doesn't mean it's perfect," Alarc�n said. "Frankly, I heard 20 rounds of gunfire near my house last night. It's still an area that needs work."
A cadre of civilian volunteers will be trained to operate the cameras, mounted high on utility poles. They can pan over an area or zoom in on a license plate, and alert authorities to dispatch a patrol car if the cameras capture a crime in progress.
Since the cameras aren't currently being monitored around the clock, the volunteers also will review videotaped footage for evidence of crime.
In the case of the tagger, a volunteer zoomed in on his license plate and police tracked him down. He was one of several arrested since the cameras went live two months ago, Scott said.
Addressing concerns about privacy, authorities plan to post signs alerting the public that cameras are in place.
But the notices will not go far enough in protecting privacy, said Peter Bibring, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.
The ACLU sent a letter to the City Council in 2008, calling on the panel to stop spending money on surveillance camera programs. The letter cited a study by the University of Southern California which found that surveillance cameras in Hollywood and Watts had failed to significantly reduce crime.
Bibring said studies in the United Kingdom, where closed-circuit cameras are in wide use, also found that those monitoring the cameras get bored and used the devices for voyeuristic purposes, such as ogling women.
"There are obvious concerns for abuse," Bibring said.
"In the middle of a budget crisis, it makes no sense to invest in an expensive tool that doesn't work. There's such a disconnect between the rhetoric of these cameras and their actual effectiveness."
Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine also expressed concern about the cameras' effectiveness, but for different reasons. He said he locked in $700,000 in funding for cameras in the LAPD's Topanga and West Valley divisions. But he learned that while the cameras are promoted as wireless, they cannot be moved to a different problem area after they are installed.
"I'm supportive of the concept, but I just don't want to spend $700,000 on a system that isn't going to do what it says it does," said Zine, a retired LAPD sergeant. "This system is a static system. You can't move it to another location."
Zine said he also was concerned about maintenance costs.
"Until I have substantial answers, we're going to keep the $700,000," Zine said "For that kind of money, I want to have something that's reliable and effective."
Alarc�n said he believes he can secure at least $31,000 in funds annually to maintain or repair cameras in his district.
While questions about privacy and effectiveness are valid, Panorama City resident Saul Mejia said he thinks the cameras are a good idea.
"If you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about," said Mejia, a member of the Panorama City Neighborhood Council. "This is definitely going to be a great success."
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