Solar powered mobile surveillance cameras in South Bend track body movement
Jan. 31, 2025
SOUTH BEND — Surveillance is increasing in South Bend through the implementation of new 22-foot-tall mobile camera units from LiveView Technologies.
The tall, wide, solar-powered camera units seen around town at local retailers such as Meijer and Martin’s Super Markets have made their way to the South Bend Police Department. The police department’s main objective with the LVT unit is deterrence, officials said.
SBPD first looked into the technology at the end of the summer of 2024, Capt. Kyle Dombroski said. As Captain of Operations, Dombrowski oversees the department’s Strategic Intel Office, Strategic Focus Unit and Real-Time Crime Center.
The police department began its demo program in September, launching at Fusion Fest, with the consideration of purchasing the technology in the coming year.
LVTs are within the police department’s 2025 budget if it proves to be a useful tool, Operations Divisions Chief and Assistant Chief Dan Skibins told The Tribune Oct. 10. On Dec. 17, Dombrowski announced that the department would purchase one unit.
LVT is another “tool in our toolbox” to provide help to the community, Dombrowski said.
How it works
LVT cameras employ a hard-to-miss design that upends traditional security and surveillance protocols.
“For a long time, manufacturers were making cameras really small to try to catch criminals without them knowing," LiveView Technologies Senior Communications Manager Matt Deighton said. "We've taken the far opposite approach."
Instead, LVT's mobile security cameras hide in plain sight, Dombrowski said.
“How can we show to criminals that they’re being watched, they're being monitored?” Deighton asked. The camera’s presence demonstrates “this site takes security seriously and if they're gonna perform acts of crime, they should do it somewhere else,” he said.
LVT units have 32x zoom, a 360-degree view and are able to use artificial intelligence to monitor the behavior of a person. The cameras connect to cell towers and also have high resolution to be able to capture a clear image of license plate numbers, LiveView Technologies says on its website.
LVT’s goal is to prevent crimes from ever happening by analyzing behaviors before the crime happens by determining if a behavior is “typical” of the average shopper or “someone about to perform criminal behavior,” Deighton said.
“We can’t solve the world’s problems, but we can solve that company or that city or that location’s problem,” he said.
South Bend Chief of Police Scott Ruszkowski said LVT is intended first for deterrence, but it does also provide investigative advantages.
“We want deterrent,” Ruszkowski said. “But, if you do something wrong, we’ll have even more evidence to use that against you. So, the easiest thing is not doing something wrong.”
SBPD currently uses integrated cameras throughout the city that feed into its Real-Time Crime Center. The department can also access registered cameras, upon the owner’s permission, through the Sync South Bend program to assist police in their investigations. LVT real-time footage connects to the Real-Time Crime Center, as well, where crime analysts can monitor the feed, Skibins said.
For LVT, the information is stored on the unit. Alerts get sent out so the area can be monitored remotely and information can be accessed. Footage is recorded over every 30 days for privacy and logistics, Deighton said. Any information that organizations may need from the LVT unit can be pulled and kept permanently and be kept for evidence, he said.
Though LVT is placed in a particular spot, it can be useful to capture evidence in the nearby area.
“Maybe the incident didn’t happen there, but the vehicle or person traveled a way or two passing that LVT trailer, for example,” Dombrowski said. “I think it just adds more options for us.”
Right now, SBPD is still examining which of LVT’s features will best be suited for the police department.
“It’s a new toy,” Dombrowski said. “We’re still working out all the bells and whistles and figuring out what’s the best thing. But, for the time being, it’s a solid product for visual deterrence.”
Where police place LVT
LVT is attached to a trailer and can be moved where police determine there’s a need. This mobility makes it a useful tool for police for preventive measures, Dombrowski said.
“We can move it and actually having an extra set of cameras, an extra set of eyes, where officers can’t be at a higher vantage point,” he said.
In weekly command staff meetings, the police department said, they look at the city's crime trends to determine where LVT goes. Skibins called this determining the best place for “resource deployment.”
“We may put it out there in an area where it’s had a lot of crime or maybe issues going on,” Dombrowski said. “If we can put that out there for a couple days and … deter … criminal activity or nuisance issues, that’s what we want.”
Though LVT is attached to a trailer and not mounted, the units aren’t moved daily, Skibins said.
Juliun McAlister, manager at O'Reilly's Auto Parts on Lincoln Way West, said the unit sat in the parking lot for 2.5 months during the department’s demo program.
The LVT unit wasn’t placed in their lot because of crime occurring near the store but, rather, activity across the street, McAlister said.
“I saw at least a little bit of improvement here with us. Things seem to be down,” he said, reporting a lot less theft with the camera present. Surveillance footage went straight to the police department, McAllister said. He didn’t see any of it.
LVT can be placed at parks, a public street, a partnering business or areas experiencing crime. The police department also looks at upcoming events, weighing the usefulness of placing a unit there.
Businesses have been fine with it, Ruszkowski said.
“It’s not invasive,” he said. “Like anybody out in the public, you can be out there with your cellphone camera doing the same thing.”
A LVT was placed on the southwest side of the city, Ruszkowski said, where “little things” that were “party/alcohol-related” occurred, just like everywhere else, he said. The year prior, that behavior resulted in people shot, mayhem and cars on fire, Ruszkowski said.
Ruszkowski said that they can’t connect a decrease in activity solely to LVT. It’s a mix of learning from past years, group violence intervention, portable or fixed cameras, and staffing, he said.
Skibins said it’s about preparedness.
“We have the staffing now that we can adjust and prepare for all these events,” Skibins said. Three years ago, he said, they didn’t have the staffing to be able to allocate more officers to parties, events or celebrations.
“I think that goes such a long ways,” he said.
Technology features
Body movement tracking: LVT doesn’t use facial recognition, but rather relies on body movement tracking. “We’re far more concerned about privacy in the balance of security,” Deighton said. Users can set up bounding boxes, so if anyone crosses them on the screen, unit owners will be notified. LVT described a bounding box on its website as a digital thermal box that sends alerts if a thermal signature enters it. “It used to be, with a lot of security cameras, you would only find out something that happened when you came that morning to a store, realize you were broken into, then you would look at the cameras to see if you found anything,” Deighton said. “Now you can get an alert anywhere in the world.”
Loud speaker: LVT users can have live interactions with people, communicating that the area is being watched and give commands if necessary. “What they’re seeing is a large deterrence happening across the board just by criminals knowing that they’re being watched, that they’re being monitored, and having that two-way communication,” Deighton said. The speaker can also be programmed to play motion triggered warnings, company announcements and even music, LVT says on its website. The police department said it hasn't used the feature yet, but Ruszkowski told The Tribune on Oct. 10, that it’s an option. Regardless of having LVT placed in an area or not, if there’s an issue, the department will still send officers to the area rather than solely rely on the technology to communicate through, Dombrowski said.
Cost
Deighton called the units “not cheap,” but “highly effective.”
“They will more than pay for themselves in the reduction of crime and the reduction of violence that happens,” he said.
The Tribune filed an Access to Public Records request on Dec. 19 asking for the cost and contract length of LVT. As of Dec. 23, South Bend city legal said to expect a response in two weeks, after the request has been reviewed.
Does LVT reduce crime?
“We typically see a reduction in crime around 70%,” on average, Deighton said. A study from Loss Prevention Research Council said Opelika, Ala., with a population of 30,000 residents and a mix of suburban and rural, as well as a significant student population near Auburn University, had a 40% decrease in shoplifting with LVT.
Seventeen units were deployed in November 2022 at participating retail locations, including by an outdoor shopping center. Six months after deployment, shoplifting decreased from 138 to 83 incidents. Crimes against property were also significantly reduced near the LVT units in retail spaces; however, in some areas, crimes against persons increased even in areas with LVT units, according to the study.
“It is possible that the placement of LVT Units has influenced not only offender behavior, but also reporting,” the study said. “However, there appeared to be likewise higher number incidents in areas without LVT Units.”
A case study on LVT's website reports that Camden, N.J., saw zero dumping violations in its four months of using LVT at two sites when previously 125 tons were dumped in the two locations combined within one year.
“We’ve heard from sheriff’s departments and cities, they’ve saved millions of dollars a year by dropping one LVT unit in a high-dumping location,” Deighton said.
In San Francisco, the technology assisted in the arrest of a man on Oct. 30 who is accused of stuffing merchandise from Walgreens into his backpack, according to the San Francisco Police Department, which acquired LVT in a trial period in September 2024.
Through the LVT unit placed at 24th and Mission streets in San Francisco, officers matched a suspect from the in-store surveillance to the LVT’s location, where they said a man was attempting to sell the stolen merchandise, San Francisco Police said in a press release. Officers returned a large amount of stolen property to the business, they said.
In South Bend, city officials said part one crimes were down 19% from the COVID-19 pandemic. While shootings continued to decrease, burglaries and thefts started to rise.
Police noted during the Dec. 11 monthly crime statistics meeting, reviewing crime data for November, that vehicle larcenies decreased in Beats 16 and 22 from the previous month, while motor vehicle thefts went up by one in Beat 16.
Beat 16, on the city’s south side, consists of large national retailers Walmart, Kohls, T.J. Maxx and, across the street, Martin’s Super Markets, which has a LVT unit. Vehicle larcenies in Beat 16 decreased from five to one, from October to November; however, motor vehicle thefts increased from zero to three. Throughout the year, vehicle larcenies decreased during the spring and summer, but rose in the fall before decreasing again in November. Motor vehicle thefts in the area varied from zero to two throughout the year, with February and November having three.
On the city’s northwest side, in Beat 22, where Meijer has two LVT units, the city experienced significantly fewer vehicle larcenies and motor vehicle thefts compared to Beat 16 throughout the year. Both vehicle larcenies and motor vehicle thefts decreased from two to one from October to November. However, in October, a motor vehicle theft and aggravated assault occurred near the same plaza where the Meijer on Portage Road is located. In November, a vehicle theft happened there.
The Tribune contacted Martin’s owner SpartanNash for comment. A spokesperson declined to comment, citing security reasons. The Tribune has not received a response from Meijer. Neither store commented on when the LVT unit was implemented at these locations.
Does LVT help policing?
Though saying that LVT has been “pretty successful” and “positive so far,” Dombrowski declined to comment on any success or results from having LVT in the city due to it being part of an ongoing investigation.
The community is receptive toward LVT, he said.
“We’ve actually gotten calls from people saying, ‘Hey, can we have it over here?’” he said. “So I think we have a very positive thing with not only our residents but our business community.”
Ruszkowski said he has not received any complaints about the cameras.
“As a matter of fact, it’s been the opposite,” he said, “It’s been accolades from the people in the neighborhood (to) businesses in the neighborhood who are very much appreciative of being able to do that.”
Customer and community response to LVT
In addition to police departments, LVT has contracts with local retailers and organizations in the South Bend region.
“Anyone that needs security but doesn’t want to add a ton of infrastructure or cost involved, this is a very quick solution to be able to add security,” Deighton said.
Mishawaka Police don’t use LVT, but Sgt. Steve Headley, the department’s public information officer, said Lowe’s, 7-11 and Kroger use them.
“The camera company is very easy to work with should we make a request,” Headley said by text.
Motels4Now, which currently houses homeless individuals at the former Knight’s Inn, has had LVT since 2024, thanks to a grant after finding that the surveillance camera wires from the Knight’s Inn were cut.
“It’s been very helpful for us as people have in the past have tried to jump our fence in order to prey upon our guests,” Motels4Now Executive Director Sheila McCarthy said. “That’s helped our security for that, to keep our guests safe.”
In South Bend, Martin’s Super Markets in Erskine Plaza has one unit in its parking lot and Meijer on Portage Road has two.
South Bend shoppers at Martin’s Super Market at Erskine Plaza on Ireland Road and the Meijer on Portage Road on Dec. 17 were overall positive about the surveillance presence at their grocery store.
At the Martin's in Erskine Plaza, several customers declined to give their names but generally saw the cameras as a positive increase in security.
At Meijer, the cameras weren’t something customer Chris Blood really thought about while coming to shop.
“I’ve lived in countries where they’re (surveillance cameras) almost like Big Brother-ish, but in a parking lot …” Blood trailed off, but said no when asked if the cameras were bothersome when coming to the grocery store.
“If they were on every street corner — you watch one of those ‘the government’s everywhere spying on you’ movies — that’s going a little too far,” Blood said.
“I don’t know if they do their job or not,” Rocky Pierce, a Buchanan resident said before entering the store. “I’ve never had any issues with my car getting broke into or nothing here, so I would think they serve a good purpose.”
To him, surveillance — overall — has its pros and cons, he said.
“I don’t like somebody watching every move I make,” Pierce said. “Pretty soon, Big Brother’s gonna be in everybody’s house.”
However, he added that he’s OK with a surveillance camera placed in a grocery store parking lot.