'What a sad joke!' Gov Gavin Newsom shredded as he announces installation of 480 high-tech surveillance cameras to combat crime in Oakland

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: California Governor Gavin Newsom took to X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, March 29, to announce Oakland will be installing "high-tech cameras" along major thoroughfares around the city to identify offenders, as part of its new strategy to battle crime. 

In the post, he mentioned, "480 new high-tech cameras are being installed along freeways and in Oakland to make the area safer. These will help law enforcement identify vehicles linked to crimes using real-time information and alerts. We’re building safer, stronger communities for all Californians."

Gov Gavin Newsom assures privacy is foundational and a core component of the new effort to combat crimes in Oakland 

CEOs of four significant downtown Oakland firms, Kaiser Permanente, Clorox, Blue Shield of California, and Pacific Gas & Electric, spearheaded the project as a part of a $10 million security package aimed at enhancing public safety and safeguarding employees, as per Fox News. 

A video of Newsom explaining the policy to viewers while positioned next to a major Oakland road was also included in the X (formerly Twitter) post. He asserted that the strategy is a component of the police's efforts "to focus on stolen vehicles." 

The California Governor added, "This is proven technology where privacy is foundational and a core component of the effort. This is building on efforts we made just a few weeks ago with a surge of California Highway Patrol in partnership with our Department of Justice. By the way, that’s led to already 200 arrests and 400 vehicles that have been recovered that were otherwise stolen."

Keeping privacy in mind, the footage from the numerous surveillance cameras will be retained for 28 days and won't be shared with third parties beyond California law enforcement, as clarified by Newsom's office. 

In recent years, crime in the Bay Area has taken center stage in national news. Beloved small businesses have closed, residents have moved out, and tourists have been traumatized by the misconduct they have witnessed in the region.

Notably, In-N-Out Burger closed its only Oakland branch, making it the first closure in its 75-year history, due to property damage, car break-ins, theft, and robberies, as per Associated Press. 

Internet reacts to California Governor Gavin Newsom's new strategy to combat crimes in Oakland 

One opined, "What a sad joke! It doesn’t matter if you catch them on camera, until you actually prosecute criminals they are not going to stop committing crimes."

They continued, "You care more about illegal aliens than you do about American citizens. You care more about pandering to the radical left then you do about protecting your own communities, because you live in the bubble outside of the hell that you make everyone else live in."

"You, @GavinNewsom, are a traitor to California and our country. You have created the hell that Californians have to live in. You are the exact opposite of a good leader; you are a fraud! The cameras need to be put on you - the criminal that invited this lawlessness!" further expressed the netizen. 

Another said, "Everything you do makes California’s less safe. You allow criminals to operate with impunity while disarming us," and someone else remarked, "Without arrests and legitimate prosecutors this is nothing more than surveillance on law abiding citizens." 

A person wrote, "All you have to do is hold criminals accountable by not releasing them. But you would rather violate law abing citizens constitutional rights."

One more wondered, "What are the camera's really for? Gavin is against the incarceration of people who commit these crimes?"

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