CrimeBeat Q&A: Are video cameras on top of Santa Rosa’s stop lights recording me?

Many traffic intersections have what appear to be video cameras mounted on top of the light poles. What is the purpose of these video cameras? Are the video images retained somewhere?

Anthony Hopkins, Santa Rosa

The vast majority of cameras mounted on the lighting arms of traffic signals are designed to improve traffic flow by detecting waiting motorists or bicyclists, said Rob Sprinkle, Santa Rosa's deputy director of traffic engineering.

The city doesn't monitor or keep any of the images, according to Sprinkle.

“They don't record,” Sprinkle said. “We did that by design. There are rules if you have a recording camera. We even get questions from our police sometimes, but we don't have it.”

The video detection cameras perceive differentiation in pixels from the typical background - like when a bicyclist pedals into view - and sends a signal to a processor, triggering a quicker change from red light to green.

Most of the city's 200 or so intersections with traffic signals have some mechanism for detecting waiting traffic. Nearly half have video sensing cameras, which are slowing replacing sensors embedded into the asphalt called “in-ground loops.” Some intersections where pedestrian traffic is significant, like downtown Santa Rosa, rely on pedestrian signal activation buttons.

They also don't record any of the images captured by surveillance-style cameras at some of the city's busiest intersections: Guerneville Road and Cleveland Avenue, Steele Lane and County Center Drive, Steele Lane and Mendocino Avenue, Sebastopol and Stony Point roads, Guerneville and Stony Point roads as well as West Third Street and Stony Point Road.

The city does have surveillance cameras that record and store video, but they are not on traffic signals.

Surveillance cameras are posted near the city's downtown and West College Avenue transit malls. They are also posted along some areas of the Prince Memorial Greenway, in parking garages and at entrances to city buildings.

Recordings from outdoor cameras are stored for one year, as required by state law, said Eric McHenry, chief technology officer for the city. Dispatchers can access the video in real time, but the cameras are not monitored regularly and function mostly as an archive.

“They are used if something happened, like a crime,” McHenry said.

Some cameras are triggered by motion and others are always recording. Cameras are also stationed throughout city buildings near exits and at places were money is exchanged, McHenry said.

“If you go into a city building, a bank or a store, you're probably on camera,” McHenry said.

Submit your questions about crime, safety and criminal justice to Staff Writer Julie Johnson at julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.