Here's Looking at You, Tiburon
Cameras will take pictures of each vehicle coming and going into Peninsula town
By JESSICA GREENE
Updated 12:58 PM PST, Thu, Nov 19, 2009
Smile if you're driving into Tiburon, you'll be on camera.
There are only two ways to get into the Peninsula town and within six months, both of those entry points will be monitored by cameras.
Tiburon's Town Council on Wednesday night unanimously approved the controversial proposal to install the cameras that will snap pictures of the license plates of each vehicle coming and going to the coastal community. The vote authorizes up to almost $200,000 to mount cameras on Tiburon Boulevard and Paradise Drive -- the only two two roads in and out of Tiburon.
Opponents call it an invasion of privacy but others say it's an essential tool to keeping the city's crime level low.
Cameras could have helped investigators zero in on whoever killed Joan Rosenthal, the 75-year-old woman found shot dead outside her home in September, Police Chief Michael Cronin said. Rosenthal was the city's fourth homicide in 40 years.
There are only about 8,500 residents in Tiburon. Many people who live there feel so safe, they don't even lock their cars or front doors. Those who do go to Tiburon to commit crimes are, "unsophisticated opprotunists and drug addicts," Cronin said at Wednesday's meeting.
Only the rear of the vehicles will be photographed and data will be destroyed within 30 days.
But, there are still those who wonder if the saftey measure is just another way for Big Brother to keep a watchful eye on everything we do. Will it keep you from visiting Tiburon?
First Published: Nov 19, 2009 6:53 AM PST
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