RESEDA (CBSLA.com) – Crooks should step lightly in the West Valley, now that the LAPD has installed a network of 16 state-of-the-art wireless cameras to help cut down on crime.

Police officials and City Councilman Dennis Zine unveiled the new surveillance system, which now keeps a 24-hour, unblinking eye on the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley and Topanga patrol areas.

The $679,830 surveillance system features mobile, wireless security cameras that use Verizon 4G technology to transmit video back to an operations center. The state-of-the-art system was funded by Zine’s share of the annual revenue from bus bench advertising.

The cameras are small and their locations are being kept under wraps by police.

“I had no clue that it was there until you mentioned it,” a bystander told CBS2/KCAL9’s Dave Lopez. She didn’t seem to have any qualms about the presence of 16 cameras watching the streets of the West Valley, however.

“Well, I think safety is good,” she said.

The cameras can be re-deployed to other areas when crime spikes.

Mary Paterson, who manages apartment buildings in the San Fernando Valley, said she first saw how the system worked in Hollywood six years ago. Since then, she has been working with Councilman Zine to bring the surveillance cameras to the Valley.

“When we saw a sample of this system in Hollywood, we saw how compelling the evidence was against people who were committing crimes.”