San Bernardino police secure $1M in federal funding for 100 new surveillance cameras across city

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. () — San Bernardino police have announced that the department has received more than $1 million in federal funding to help fight crime.

Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands) announced during a news conference on Wednesday that the funding secured through Congress will support the city’s Mobile Crime Prevention Program.

“When people feel safe and have peace of mind, our community thrives,” Aguilar said. “This project will improve public safety by giving our law enforcement the tools they need to better prevent and solve crimes, apprehend criminals and respond to incidents.”

San Bernardino police say they currently have live access to nearly 200 surveillance cameras throughout the city.

The new funding will allow them to install approximately 100 new cameras at various locations. Some of the cameras will be mobile, and some will be installed on undercover police vehicles.

“The biggest thing is it’s going to help reduce manhours during investigations,” said Police Chief Darren Goodman. “By having those cameras, you enhance your ability, because it’s a force multiplier. When you have cameras on every street corner, that takes the place of not being able to have officers on every street corner because you have eyes out there.”

Goodman also said newer technology that uses artificial intelligence will allow investigators to solve crimes much more quickly than older camera systems.

“If we were looking for a suspect that was driving a blue car, we won’t have to have an investigator comb through hours of footage. We can program in there, ‘show blue cars,’ and it would only show the blue cars. That’s going to reduce our investigative time exponentially and avoid operator fatigue.”

San Bernardino police said the funding was made possible through the Commerce, Justice, Science, Energy and Water Development and Interior & Environment Appropriations Act of 2026, which includes $7.4 million for projects across Rep. Aguilar’s district.

They say the new cameras should be installed by the end of the year.