The public security committee of the San Diego municipal council met on Friday afternoon to discuss several questions, in particular Lamp license player and intelligent automatic license.
Monitoring technology continues to be used in many districts. The situational cameras mounted on the lampposts are used by the San Diego police to fight crime. They also use license readers to identify stolen cars, want fugitives and to help in missing people.
There are new concerns that the confidential data collected could be used by federal agents for the application of immigration.
“San Diego police do not apply the US immigration law,” said Captain Charles Lara when he was annual before the members of the Council at the meeting on Friday.
The city budget for the year 2024 included $ 3.5 million in the budget of the General Police Fund for the deployment of 500 smart lampposts. This total of funded cameras and data collection software.
Since the city relaunched the program a year and a half ago, the police said that plates readers and street lamp cameras have helped the police recover 210 stolen cars, 10 firearms and carry out 206 arrests. The cameras do not record audio and do not use facial recognition.
“We must wonder what is the value for a family of an assault or homicide victim?” Said Lara in her presentation. “What is the value of preventing a kidnapping child or returning a loved one missing with dementia?”
The presentation of Lara to the Council Committee included its evidence of efficiency and its guarantee that the data used is not available for the federal government.
“Community security is our priority, regardless of immigration status,” he concluded.
There was a data violation at the beginning of last year, which exposed information to other California law enforcement agencies for about a month. Which was corrected. But recent aggressive immigration and customs raids by the Trump administration could be a different threat.
The member of the San Diego Council, Sean Elo-Rivera, is one of the strongest opponents of the programs.
“We see what is happening in our country right now, what is happening in California and even in our city. Are we comfortable with the potential consequences of an error, not to mention a malicious federal action? I am not,” Elo-Rivera told NBC 7.