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Deadly El Cerrito shooting happened after last Flock cameras removed
The shooting death of a man outside a busy El Cerrito restaurant happened days after the last of the citys license-plate cameras were removed after concerns over data-sharing.
EL CERRITO, Calif. - The shooting death of a man outside a busy El Cerrito restaurant happened just days after the last of the city's license-plate cameras were removed, a step that lengthened the amount of time it took for investigators to identify a vehicle wanted in the slaying, the police chief said Monday.
Cell phone video shows El Cerrito police trying unsuccessfully to revive a 21-year-old man who had been shot outside Los Moles restaurant at Del Norte Plaza shopping center on San Pablo Avenue.
Victim likely targeted, police say
What we know:
El Cerrito Police Chief Paul Keith said the victim was most likely targeted.
"It certainly doesn't seem like it's a random crime," Keith said. We believe that the occupants of the vehicle knew the suspects on some level."
The shooting happened at about 12:15 p.m. Sunday.
"Los Moles is kind of known for its brunch crowd," the chief said. "So we had 30-plus witnesses at the restaurant to the incident. There was actually a family that was walking in when the shooting happened."
The victim and two passengers were sitting in his red Toyota Camry when they were approached by two young men. KTVU has learned one of them got into the back seat of the Camry directly behind the victim and opened fire.
The two took off in a Nissan Maxima driven by a third person. Police released a photo of the car that was taken from a residential security camera.
Remaining Flock cameras removed days earlier
The backstory:
The shooting happened just two days after Flock Safety removed the last of its cameras from the city. All 40 cameras had been offline since June, when El Cerrito ended its contract with the company after learning some of its license-plate data was shared with federal agencies.
Among the cameras removed were two on either side of the shopping center, along Potrero Avenue at Interstate 80 and at San Pablo Avenue.
"I still believe license-plate readers are the best tool that modern law enforcement agencies can have," Keith said.
The chief said had Flock cameras still been in place, it would have significantly sped up the investigation as far as identifying the Nissan.
"That time would have been compressed," the chief said. "And in the aftermath of the shooting, our time to locate that suspect vehicle, we would have been much more ahead of the ball at this point."
Privacy advocate sounds warning
The other side:
But privacy advocate Brian Hofer of Secure Justice said any benefits of cameras should be carefully weighed against their misuse.
"And if the police are just going to try to pull on these hypothetical heart string examples and never talk about the misconduct happening under their nose, they're not serious about having a real conversation," Hofer said.
Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on X @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan
The Source: KTVU reporting, El Cerrito police, Flock Safety, Brian Hofer of Secure Justice