Palo Alto eyes adding cameras along train tracks to help prevent suicides

PALO ALTO, Calif. (KFSN) -- One California city is considering adding cameras along its train tracks in an effort to prevent teenage suicides.

Right now, guards patrol railroad crossings in Palo Alto, but officials are looking to do more to stop an alarming trend. They say 70 percent of all teen suicides on Caltrain tracks since 2009 have happened in their city. And 40 students at Palo Alto High School have been hospitalized for suicidal thoughts in just the past year and a half. That's why local leaders want to add cameras that could alert police the moment someone sets foot on the tracks.

"It might provide better visibility and perhaps, depending on how the technology works, just a little bit more time to notify all the personnel needed to either stop the train or get that person off the tracks," said Claudia Keith, a spokesperson for the city of Palo Alto.

City officials will meet with Caltrain and the developer of the security cameras later this week. A test program could be installed within the next few months.