In a new effort to keep out Oakland criminals who are behind a string of home-invasion robberies in Piedmont, the tony township wants to start photographing every license plate that crosses its borders. Have they noticed that they're surrounded on all sides by Oakland and they're barely a separate town at all? Perhaps a large wall would be a logical next step.
Piedmont has its own school district and police force, and was incorporated in 1907 as a bedroom community for the wealthy seeking to separate themselves from growing Oakland. By the 1920s it was known as the City of Millionaires because of the large percentage of millionaires who had built homes within its borders.
We heard about a couple of home invasions in April 2012 and January 2013, but the trend has continued. And now, as KQED reports, to help ward off and/or solve such crimes, the town wants to install cameras with ALPRs (Automatic License Plate Readers) at key intersections where ne'er-do-well strangers might be entering or exiting.
The ACLU is already calling shenanigans on this, saying that it may represent a violation of privacy and its use could be perverted. But the wealthy and frightened residents likely will not stop until they have adequately protected themselves.
Now, about that wall...
Previously: Dear Lord, Crime Has Skyrocketed In Piedmont!
