On Tuesday, a meeting between the City of Antioch and local merchants resulted in License Plate Readers coming soon to Downtown Antioch.
The cameras will serve two purposes which is to catch those participating in sideshow activity and second to assist police in locating stolen vehicles. The move comes as Antioch has been hit with multiple sideshows in recent months while residents have dealt with 328 stolen vehicles since May 28.
For the second time in weeks, a meeting occurred between local business merchants in the downtown area to address crime and sideshows issues. This included the Antioch Police Department, city staff, and councilmember Mike Barbanica–previously, it was announced that the gate to the Antioch Marina boat launch area would close at 9:00 pm.
After the meeting, it was shared that Sean McCauley, will be purchasing multiple License Plate Readers for his properties in the downtown area—including Smiths Landing Seafood Grill and Monica’s Riverview. The goal is to cut down on both sideshows and reckless driving. They will also begin bringing in private security to patrol the parking lots.
“Merchants like myself not going to continue to put up with this type of behavior,” said McCauley. “We are not only going to capture the license plates, but we are going to seek restitution for those who damage property in Antioch.”
McCauley said the sideshow activity is hurting business which makes it harder to get the community to patronize the downtown area or do business in the city of Antioch.
He did not provide specific locations of the cameras, how many, or timelines, but said it will cost him between $20-$50k. He called this similar to a public-private partnership to address an issue and cameras could be placed in as many as seven downtown parking lots.
Antioch City Councilmember Mike Barbanica confirmed the meeting and what McCauley would be investing in, but pointed out he believed the city should be paying for the cameras.
“While I appreciate Sean McCauley funding his own License Plate Cameras, I believe this cost should not fall on business owners, but rather the city. Therefore, I have requested it come before council as soon as possible which could take 90-days, but I hope it comes before council sooner,” said Barbanica. “We have identified that there is a problem so I think the city should be responsible. I have also requested cameras at all the city owned lots north of 2nd Street.”
Barbanica called the discussion at today’s meeting with the community productive because it was a good decision about what License Plate Readers can and could not do but he hopes it would help police identify people driving stolen vehicles or those participating in sideshows.
As of Tuesday, there was no date set as to when McCauley would install the cameras or when the item would come to the Antioch City Council for discussion.
Previous Stories:
- Aug 9 – Antioch Mayor Claims Sideshows and Crime is Down
- Aug 6 – Antioch Sideshow Damages Water Main, Vehicle Also Enters Delta Waters
- July 5 – Hundreds Gather for Fourth of July Sideshow in Antioch
- June 26 – Stockton Taskforce Target Sunday Sideshow Activity
- Jan 12 – Antioch Police Tow 2 Vehicles, 1 Citation in Latest Sideshow Response
- Dec 14 – Brentwood Police Chief Comments on Recent Sideshow Activity
- May 16, 2022 – Antioch Mayor Says Council Will Take Up Policy to Target Sideshow Spectators
- May 15 , 2022 – Antioch Police Respond to Two Sideshows, Officers Vehicles Attacked
- May 3, 2022 – Pittsburg City Council Agrees to Fine Sideshow and Street Racing Spectators
9 comments
Comments are closed.
Add Comment