BART expands surveillance with cameras on all trains

BART officials on Wednesday said the transit agency has completed installing security cameras on all of its train cars.

The BART Board of Directors approved contracts last year in August for the new security camera equipment. The total cost of the project, including labor and other materials, was $1.42 million, which came out of the transit agency’s operating budget.

Officials had set July 1, 2017 to complete the project.

The new cameras will provide high quality images onboard BART trains. Each car will have four cameras onboard, according to BART.

BART Police Chief Carlos Rojas said in a statement that the completion of the installation new digital cameras shows the transit agency commitment to public safety:

“These cameras will be an effective tool for solving crimes that occur on the BART system by helping investigators to identify suspects.

Rojas added that the new cameras will help serve as deterrent from potential crimes from occurring.

Originally, BART had installed a mix of real security cameras and decoy cameras in the late-90s and early-2000s to deter vandalism, BART officials said.

The decoy cameras came to light after a fatal shooting incident occurred at the West Oakland Station inside a BART train. No video footage was captured of the shooting.

If riders are a victim or a witness to a crime, they should write down the car number posted above at the end doors of each car.

BART officials said the car number will help track down the video footage related to the criminial activity.

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.