A split San Diego City Council voted Tuesday to approve policies regarding several police technology tools, including its controversial network of automated license plate readers. The vote came as the council reviewed 54 surveillance technologies that police use, which also include cameras officers wear on their uniforms, SWAT robots and other tactical equipment, and cameras on streetlight poles. The council split 5-3 to approve policies related to the continued use of automated license plate readers, with one councilmember absent. The license plate readers, from provider Flock, emerged as the most polarizing. Police praise them as crime-fighting tools, while opponents fear they provide mass surveillance and endanger communities rather than protecting them — particularly amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. “Given the current federal administration, these systems pose a risk of misuse, and their impact on my communities can be very significant,” Councilmember Vivian Moreno said. Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera spoke of the loss of trust in using the technology. “Entire communities are being given legitimate reason to fear their own government, and that fear grows by the day. … But we can mitigate it, and we can do things to not make them feel even more scared,” he said. Councilmember Marni von Wilpert listed several cases in which the plate readers helped solve crimes. “I cannot, in good conscience, take away a factual, evidential tool to prevent crimes and keep San Diegans safe on the theoretical possibility that this government — which is doing atrocious things, I agree — could access our data,” she said. San Diego’s network consists of about 500 surveillance cameras and automated license plate reader technology on streetlights throughout the city. The readers capture license plates of vehicles in their view, as well as time, date and location. Data is deleted after 30 days, unless it’s part of an active investigation. The readers are a package deal with surveillance cameras placed in streetlights — they are not a separate feature — and turning off the readers would not save any money if cameras stay on. The cameras are run by a company called Ubiquia, which contracts with Flock to handle the readers. Councilmember Henry Foster III raised concerns that the now-retired San Diego police captain who handled the contract has since gone to work for Flock — which many opponents also highlighted. “I just think that is totally inappropriate,” he said. San Diego police said that since the system was launched, they have recovered $6 million in stolen property, including more than 400 vehicles, and said the tech also helped solve four homicides last year. “There is nothing for us to hide on this. I want to be open and transparent,” San Diego police Chief Scott Wahl said. “This is an effective tool to help us fight crime.” A strict surveillance ordinance San Diego passed two years ago requires the council to review each year all surveillance the city uses with an eye toward civil rights. Tuesday’s meeting marked the first review under the ordinance. Scores of people turned out, and the council heard more than three-and-a-half hours of public comment. Several speakers pointed to concerns of mass surveillance and fears that San Diego’s data will be accessed by the federal government, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and turned against residents. “I believe that if the City Council approves this item, that they will be irreversibly aligning themselves with the values of the current federal administration in a time where San Diegans are more and more affected by ICE crackdowns and raids,” speaker Tristan Beery said. California law bars police from sharing their license plate data with out-of-state or federal agencies. San Diego goes beyond that — no one outside the city is allowed to access its data. San Diego police said there is no evidence that San Diego’s data has been accessed for immigration purposes. A Flock representative said it has not received any federal warrants seeking San Diego’s data. Many speakers weren’t buying that the data cannot be accessed or shared, and some said they distrusted Flock. “A vote to continue Flock contracts put more San Diegans at risk of being harmed by a federal administration that is focused on targeting and criminalizing our communities,” speaker J’nyka Faulkner said. “There is no real way to protect our data from getting in the hands of federal immigration enforcement with Flock.” Speaker Satomi Rash-Zeigler said license plate data “can reveal where we worship, where we visit, what protests we attend, what communities we belong to. This information in the hands of bad actors puts our families, our neighbors, our communities at risk.” One woman identified herself as a teacher and said a 12-year-old student had an anxiety attack when she noticed an ALPR camera near the school. She was scared about her grandmother driving under the camera due to her immigration status. “I could not minimize her fears or say she was overreacting,” the woman said. Some speakers, however, supported the technology, including a woman who told the City Council her mother had been killed in a hit and run that remains unsolved. She called the plate readers “a game-changing, life-saving tool.” Another supporter said there has been a rash of break-ins and thefts in his new housing community in Otay Mesa. “It might not be the crime of the year, but it’s a crime that matters to each and every one of my fellow neighbors and homeowners,” the speaker said. “Taking tools away from our overworked, underpaid, understaffed police officers is not okay.” Chief Wahl told the council that his department worked closely with the city advisory board designed to review surveillance tech. Several changes were made to tighten the policy and how police share the information with the public. “We expanded auditing, we’ve improved public reporting and we’ve tightened data-sharing rules. Those changes were not symbolic. They directly addressed concerns raised by residents and by this council,” Wahl said. ...read more read less