San Diego Police Say ‘Smart Streetlights’ Have Helped Solve Hundreds of Crimes

A smart streetlight. Courtesy of the City of San Diego

SAN DIEGO—Smart streetlights and automated license plate recognition technology have contributed to solving 229 criminal cases and resulted in 166 arrests since December, city leaders and the San Diego Police Department (SFPD) said Oct 14.

These are “incredibly important tool[s] for solving serious crimes across our city, by narrowing down suspects and bringing them into custody faster,” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said at a joint press conference with the police department.

According to the SDPD, smart streetlights are enhanced regular streetlight poles “with embedded technology, including high-definition video cameras and automatic license plate recognition (ALPR).”

Officials touted the effectiveness of the technology and asked for more flexibility to be granted to the police department for its installation.

The SDPD said the deployment of the first round of about 500 smart streetlights has helped police arrest suspects faster—in hours instead of days, according to the department—and deterred future crimes. The department also reported cost savings from the shorter investigation time and overall reduced crime.

Referring to a case in which a man was suspected of kidnapping two young girls at the Mission Valley mall in June, SDPD Chief Scott Wahl said at the press conference, “We were able to get license plate information and put it in the system, and in two hours, he was in the back of the police car. That is how you prevent future crimes using this technology.”

Wahl and City Councilwoman Marni von Wilpert—chair of the Committee on Public Safety—said the police department is currently restricted from adjusting the locations of the smart streetlight cameras and ALPR.

SDPD said for the first round of 500 cameras, about 40 have not been installed due to issues that arose with the approved site locations, such as objects blocking the camera’s view or the light poles lacking sufficient voltage. The department asked the city council for more flexibility to move the cameras from pole to pole.

“It is best for us to be efficient and effective and more precise in our policing,” Wahl said.

SDPD Captain Jeffrey Jordon confirmed to The Epoch Times that the police department made a request to move some of the smart streetlights back in May, but with the current procedure, including a community meeting presentation, a three-month review by a privacy advisory board, and a committee meeting presentation, “the item will not likely be scheduled [for a full city council presentation] until November, making it over six months.”

Map indicating locations of around 500 installed (gray dots) or to be installed (blue dots) smart streetlights and automated license plate recognition systems in San Diego. San Diego Police Department/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

San Diego began exploring the smart streetlight program several years ago.

According to an SDPD presentation, San Diego planned to install 4,200 smart streetlight sensors back in 2016, but due to concerns over privacy and transparency, the project was suspended, and the city enacted a new law on surveillance—the Transparent and Responsible Use of Surveillance Technology (TRUST) Ordinance.

The ordinance requires regulation of the acquisition, use, funding, storage, and sharing of information from surveillance technologies. It also requested more community engagement and the creation of a privacy advisory board appointed by the mayor and approved by the city council.

Under the new law, SDPD proposed a new smart streetlights program with the first 500 planned locations. However, the nine-member privacy advisory board unanimously recommended the city council in June 2023 to reject the proposed policies and impact reports for smart streetlights and ALPR by SDPD, citing a lack of transparency, missing or insufficient vendor information, insufficient safeguards from unauthorized access, and other reasons, according to a board meeting presentation.

The smart streetlights program was eventually approved by the city council and backed by the mayor.

The Epoch Times reached out to the privacy advisory board for comment but did not receive a response before publication.

SDPD said that both the cameras and ALPRs will “not be actively monitored but are viewed in response to an alert,” and the recording will take place in public places, mainly streets and sidewalks, where privacy should not be a concern. Facial recognition is also not being used with the technology. The police department said the videos will be only maintained for 15 days, and ALPR for 30 days, unless they are downloaded for investigations.

According to the department, the cost of the smart streetlights is approximately $4,000 per unit for both the camera and the ALPR, making the annual cost around $2,000,000. This cost includes the hardware, software, and wireless data plan needed to operate the technology. The initial 500 units also require a one-time installation charge of approximately $1,500,000.