SAN DIEGO (CNS) - After nearly six hours of public comment and council discussion, the San Diego City Council voted Tuesday evening to approve the continued use of 54 surveillance use policies by the San Diego Police Department.
The council voted unanimously for 52 of the policies, which included items such as SWAT robots and vehicle trackers. The remaining two items proved far more contentious.
"Smart Streetlights" and automated license plate reader technologies were the final two approved -- by 6-2 and 5-3 votes, with Councilwoman Jennifer Campbell absent.
Hundreds of San Diegans spoke at the meeting, with the majority in opposition to ALPR technology, but the council took the advice of the SDPD to continue its use, physically tied to the Smart Streetlights contract approved with Ubicquia — and subcontractor Flock Safety — in late 2023.
"These technologies have delivered consistent results, even thought we've had them for just a year and a half," said Councilwoman Jennifer Campbell, who tried to downplay a recurrent fear by speakers the technology could be used by the Trump administration.
"The federal government already has all of us on their list. Thank you Elon Musk."
ALPR technology is used as part of crime-fighting strategy that involves the identification of vehicles associated with suspects, witnesses or victims. The technology utilizes police ability to focus its investigative resources to deter crime and enhance public safety, according to the San Diego Police Department.
"It's a game changer," Police Chief Scott Wahl told ABC 10News.
Speakers during the meeting -- and Councilmember Henry Foster III -- brought up a "breach" of the Flock Safety ALPR technology when it was first installed in the city and outside agencies were able to access information.
San Diego Police Department Chief Scott Wahl, in a testy exchange with Foster, admitted the unauthorized access to the data but said it was a brief mistake that was quickly rectified by the SDPD and Flock alike.
"It was an honest miss. There was nothing nefarious there," Wahl said, refusing to call it a data breach. “It was part of the initial set up phase because it’s standard practice. I think it’s something that was missed, but there was no violation of the law, there was no data breach, and it was something that our auditing caught.”
The department states that since ALPR was installed in the city in 2024, the technology has assisted the SDPD in more than 600 investigations, including the recovery of at least 20 firearms, $5.8 million in stolen property involving 440 stolen vehicles and resulted in more than 420 arrests.
In the first year of ALPR use, vehicle theft dropped 20% between 2023 and 2024, police officials stated.
The Smart Streetlights System, which includes the situational cameras and the ALPR cameras, have been attached to streetlight poles throughout San Diego since last year.
Total Installation, activation and relocation costs for the Smart Streetlight Program was $3,519,300, according to the SDPD.
Every councilmember acknowledged the efficacy of ALPR technology, but some were less enthusiastic than others.
"I'm not going to deny the effectiveness if you are watching everyone, all the time," Councilman Sean Elo-Rivera said. "Flock is a proven bad actor who is unwilling or unable to stop their technology from being abused."
A major concern of public speakers and multiple councilmembers was the possibility of the ALPR technology being used by the Trump administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement specifically to terrorize the community.
“Bad actors exist, whether those be private or government, and you can set up all the restrictions you want, but people will go right through them. The technology should just not exist for people to take advantage of," said local resident Mia Garcia.
In a statement, Mayor Todd Gloria said, "Last year, a configuration error allowed law enforcement agencies within the state of California to run license plate searches against our database for a brief amount of time. That breach should never have happened. We have since shut off that feature and strengthened user access, and now conduct weekly auditing of the system to ensure compliance.
"Importantly, license plate reader data is not shared with federal immigration agencies, and it cannot be used to track people seeking reproductive care. Data is only kept for 30 days, access is limited to trained users, and every search is logged and reviewed."
The 30 days the San Diego Police Department is allowed by local law to keep the date matches La Mesa and National City as the least amount of time in the county. The San Diego County Sheriff's Office and Coronado, Oceanside, Carlsbad and Chula Vista allow the data to be kept for a year. In Escondido, that increases to two years.
"Though I sympathize with those who worry about potential misuse of these cameras, the thought of doing away with ALPRs is short-sighted and goes against the city's mission to protect both residents and visitors alike," said Councilman Raul Campillo. "Also missing from the conversation: San Diego has one of the strongest use policies for this technology so data is not misused or sold, and must not allow fear to harm already-worried communities by making them less safe."
In 2025, 20 places throughout the country have voted to disable, reject or terminate the use of Flock technology due to security complaints.
The San Diego Police Department was clear on how they envisioned the technology's usage.
"The operation and access to ALPR data shall be for official law enforcement purposes only," an SDPD statement read. "The San Diego Police Department will also use ALPR systems to enhance and coordinate responses to active critical incidents and public threats, safeguard the lives of community members by using this technology to locate at-risk missing persons and to protect assets and resources of the city of San Diego."
On Nov. 5, the city's Privacy Advisory Board issued formal recommendations that San Diego cease the use of the Flock ALPR system. On Nov. 12, the City Council's Public Safety Committee voted unanimously to ignore the Privacy Advisory Board recommendation.
Tuesday's vote of approval did not have to do with the city's contract with Ubicquia and Flock Safety, only to reauthorize the use of these surveillance technologies.
Per the city's Transparent and Responsible Use of Surveillance (TRUST) Ordinance, the use of this technology is required to be reviewed and approved every year.
Concerns outside the city's borders include El Cajon's willingness to share ALPR technology with federal law enforcement, which drew a lawsuit from California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
The Attorney General's Office sued El Cajon in October for allegedly violating state law by sharing the data with federal authorities and law enforcement officials in more than two dozen other states.
The suit filed in San Diego Superior Court alleges that El Cajon has flouted Senate Bill 34, a 2015 law prohibiting ALPR-data sharing with out-of- state law enforcement agencies despite the California Department of Justice contacting El Cajon's police chief over the issue.
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