Mayor Todd Gloria on Wednesday signed into law the use of smart streetlights and automated license plate recognition technology, as well as the city’s Safe Sidewalk Program, measures recently approved by the San Diego City Council.
Smart streetlight cameras
On 14 November, the City Council approved the public safety technologies, and with the Mayor’s signature on Wednesday, the San Diego Police Department will enter into a five-year contract with Ubicquia Inc. for 500 Smart Streetlight cameras paired with Flock Safety’s ALPR technology.
“The first responsibility of city government is to ensure that residents are safe in their communities,” said Gloria. “My administration takes this responsibility very seriously, which is why we asked the City Council to approve both the Smart Streetlights and Safe Sidewalks programmes.
“I’m pleased to sign these improvements into law because I’m confident they will make our communities safer,” he said. “I thank the City Council for their partnership and support of these efforts.”
According to the city, the combination of licence plate recognition and Smart Streetlights – streetlights with cameras – will provide the SDPD with both video and data collection capabilities at a lower cost than if the two were purchased and maintained separately.
The initial cost of the equipment in fiscal year 2024 is approximately $3.5 million and includes a one-time installation and maintenance cost of $1.5 million and $2 million for hardware, software and connectivity. The programme will then cost approximately $2 million annually. Mayor Gloria has earmarked $4 million for the smart streetlight project in his fiscal year 2024 budget.
The technology has not been without controversy, with privacy advocates citing a lack of transparency from the city and the administration blaming the city’s surveillance ordinance, passed in 2022, for slowing the process of deploying the technology.
According to the department, the SDPD publicly posts information about the technology it uses, including access, data storage and retention, release of collected data and information, and more on its technology webpage.
When the council voted to move forward with the technologies on first reading in August, council president Sean Elo-Rivera said he was frustrated by how the conversation about the smart streetlights and licence plate readers was being framed – as a false choice between wanting safety and valuing civil liberties.
Elo-Rivera said he didn’t trust a process that bypassed recommendations from various appointed technology and privacy panels.
According to a statement from Gloria’s office, the Smart Streetlights can only be used in conjunction with an LED streetlight. If an LED streetlight is already in place, the technology can be easily connected to the streetlight without modification. If a particular location does not have an LED streetlight, the streetlight will be replaced with an LED streetlight.
Safe Sidewalk Programme
San Diego’s new Safe Sidewalk Program, also signed into law by Gloria on Wednesday, is designed to make it easier and less expensive for property owners to repair damaged and dangerous sidewalks.
The program invests resources to repair uneven and damaged sidewalks by waiving costly permit fees and helping to expedite the process for property owners to make necessary sidewalk repairs, saving up to $2,100 per project.
While the intent is to help historically underserved and underfunded parts of the city get their sidewalks fixed, several councilmembers expressed concern about whether there would be money left over to help property owners in South and Southeast San Diego.
Elo-Rivera was joined by Council President pro Tem Monica Montgomery Steppe and Councilwoman Vivian Moreno in expressing concerns about how equitably the programme would work and whether less affluent neighbourhoods would receive financial assistance to fix sidewalks.
San Diego has more than 4,550 miles of sidewalks, many of which were poured by private developers from the start of World War II through the 1970s. The average life of a sidewalk is 50-70 years, and much of the city’s pavement is older.
Damage to sidewalks is often caused by tree roots lifting up sections, heat expansion, underground utilities and vehicle accidents.
According to the city, sidewalks can be repaired with permanent measures such as sidewalk cutting and replacement, or temporarily mitigated with asphalt ramping. Asphalt ramping involves applying a patch of asphalt to a raised sidewalk to create a gradual ramp. Sidewalk slicing involves cutting sidewalk elevations between 0.5 inches and 1.5 inches to create a gradual ramp.
Both methods are designed to reduce the likelihood of tripping and falling.
During the financial year, 1,968 locations were supplied with asphalt. The average response time was seven days and the average backlog of locations was more than 50. City staff estimate the response time will be reduced to just one day with the expedited permitting process passed on Monday.
However, the city’s transportation department has a list of more than 5,000 locations that are the responsibility of the private property owner. The waived permit fee is expected to significantly reduce this list.