HUNTINGTON PARK : City to Install High-Tech Pay Phones in Bid to Cut Crime
Huntington Park’s mayor said Monday that high-tech pay phones will be installed on city sidewalks to help cut crime.
Huntington Park City Council members believe that the new Pacific Bell phones--equipped with calling card fraud detectors and high-powered night lights--will deter crimes involving pay phone use along portions of busy Pacific Boulevard.
It “will provide excellent telephone service to legitimate users (and) make it more difficult for those who would attempt to use public telephones for fraudulent purposes,” said Mayor Ric Loya.
Twenty pay phones will be installed along Huntington Park’s prime business and shopping district, where MTA buses serve more than 40,000 people daily.
The phones, some equipped with video surveillance cameras, will be at sites considered safer and more accessible than existing public phones.
City officials decided to revamp telephone services after surveys revealed that many pay phones were faulty or out of compliance with public utility regulations.
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