Special Public Safety Committee Meeting on Smart Street Light and ALPR Agreement - October 6, 2023
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Special Public Safety Committee Meeting on Smart Street Light and ALPR Agreement - October 6, 2023
The San Diego City Council's Public Safety Committee held a special meeting on October 6, 2023, to consider a five-year agreement with Ubiquia Incorporated for the installation and operation of smart streetlights and automated license plate recognition (ALPR) technology. The contract, valued at up to $11,662,500, covers 500 units with LED lighting and video/ALPR capabilities. After extensive public comment and discussion, the committee voted 3-0 to forward the item to the full council without a recommendation, pending further review by the Privacy Advisory Board.
Consent Calendar
- The committee approved the committee actions from September 20, 2023, unanimously (3-0) with one virtual speaker who was redirected to the next agenda item.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Jacob Van Deck (Democratic Socialists of America): Opposed the contract, citing risks to marginalized communities, data leakage to ICE and border patrol, and arguing the funds should be used for housing and homeless services.
- Homaira Yusufhi (Trust SD Coalition): Raised concerns about vendor-owned surveillance, lack of clarity on data ownership, inclusion of listening devices despite earlier promises, and potential for out-of-state warrants under abortion travel bans. Stated that the contract fails to protect reproductive rights and allows the vendor broad use of aggregated data.
- Truth (community member): Strongly opposed, calling the program "totalitarian" and arguing the money could be better spent on infrastructure. Accused the city of ignoring public input.
- Blair Beekman (community advocate): Urged a slower timeline for review and better public engagement, suggesting final approval could wait until mid-December 2023 or February 2024.
- Catherine Douglas: Supported the contract, stating it will help solve crimes quickly and that critics do not represent the majority.
- Dan Smikowski: Supported the technology but raised concerns about vendor ownership of the hardware, urging that the city retain the right to move or modify the devices.
- Seth Hall (San Diego Privacy): Requested the committee delay the vote to allow full analysis by the Privacy Advisory Board, noting the contract contains troubling provisions that need correction at the committee level.
- Jared Wilson (San Diego Police Officers Association President): Supported the contract, praised the extensive community outreach (17 meetings), and urged the committee to pass it to full council.
- Ike Anietu (Privacy Advisory Board member): Asked for time to review the new contract and use policies, stating the board had not formally received them yet.
- Nancy (community member): Opposed, criticizing the involvement of Flock Safety (a subcontractor) and potential data sharing through its network.
Discussion Items
- Presentation by Acting Captain Charles Lara and Sergeant Megan Basesto: Outlined the proposed resolution authorizing a five-year $11,662,500 agreement with Ubiquia for 500 smart streetlights with ALPR. Key provisions: video retained for 13 days, ALPR images for 30 days; encryption at 256-bit; privacy masking; prohibition on sharing data with immigration enforcement (ICE) or for abortion-related prosecutions without warrant; no data sharing with ARJIS due to insufficient immigration protections.
- Chair Von Wilbert's Questions: Asked about renting vs. purchasing (cost savings, ability to terminate), authorized users (sworn and non-sworn, with audits), monitoring and disciplinary actions, artificial intelligence capabilities (disabled), presence of microphones (disabled and not activated without council approval), relationship between Ubiquia and Flock (Ubiquia principal, Flock subcontractor for ALPR), deletion of data (continuous overwrite), aggregated data (system health only, not sold), and handling of out-of-state subpoenas (companies would redirect to city). Also clarified that the Privacy Advisory Board has access to the contract and will review it at their October 26 meeting.
- Councilmember Campio: Addressed concerns about ownership (city owns data, vendor owns hardware), misuse by individuals (violation leads to internal investigation and possible criminal charges), and state law protections against warrants from states with abortion restrictions (city would fight such warrants).
- Councilmember Campbell: Supported the contract, noted that renting is wiser due to rapid tech changes, confirmed single-source procurement because Ubiquia is the only provider combining both technologies, and asked about data release under public records (ALPR data exempt under Government Code and case law). Also requested a five-minute break to review changes.
- City Attorney Michelle Garland: Explained termination provisions for breach of contract, including cure period and potential recoupment of costs.
Key Outcomes
- Motion to Forward to Full Council Without Recommendation: Chair Von Wilbert made the motion, seconded by Councilmember Campio. Councilmember Campbell offered an amendment to forward with recommendation, but the chair withdrew that to allow voting on the original motion first. The motion passed 3-0 (Vice Chair Montgomery Stepp absent).
- The committee forwarded the Ubiquia agreement to the full City Council for further consideration. The Privacy Advisory Board is scheduled to review the contract on October 26, 2023, and may provide additional input before the full council vote.
- No other agenda items were discussed.
Non-Agenda Public Comment
- Several speakers addressed topics unrelated to the agenda, including allegations of Brown Act violations, a proposed ballot measure to split the City Attorney's office, and opposition to the mayor's appointment of former Sheriff Bill Gore to the Ethics Commission.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at approximately 2:35 PM. The next regular Public Safety Committee meeting is scheduled for October 18, 2023, at 2:00 PM.
Meeting Transcript
All right, good afternoon, everyone. Good afternoon. Welcome to the special public safety committee meeting of October 6, 2023. Natalie, please proceed with the instructions. Thank you, Chair. Well, members of the public are able to attend the meetings in person. This meeting is being televised and live streamed on the city's website, and the council administration will continue to make arrangements for the public to comment using the Zoom webinar platform. Members of the public who wish to provide testimony via a call-in or an internet-based service option must enter the virtual speaking queue within five minutes after the conclusion of in-person public testimony or before the virtual speaking queue is exhausted, whichever occurs first. This will allow for better meeting management between the two platforms and ensure the committee is able to manage and conduct city business. We appreciate the public's cooperation. Thank you very much. Committee member Campbell. Here. Committee member Campio? Here. Chair Von Wilbert. Present. Also attend the meeting is Michelle Garland, Office of the City Attorney. Baku Patel, Office of the IBA, and Chloe Madison, Office of the Mayor. If you're in person, please complete a speaker slip located at the entrance of chambers and place it in the box indicated at the speaker's lecture at the front of the room. Please do so in a timely manner to ensure proper meeting management. In-person testimony will conclude before virtual testimony begins. Members of the public can join the webinar by computer, tablet, or smartphone by accessing the link, which is listed online in the preamble language of the agenda on the city's webpage. To join the Zoom webinar by telephone, please dial 1669-2545252. When prompted, input webinar ID 161-413-8702 Pound. This information is also available on the agenda and will appear on the screen during the public comment period for each agenda item. Members of the public who wish to provide virtual testimony must enter the virtual queue by raising their hand before the queue closes, and the queue will close when the last virtual speaker finishes speaking or five minutes after in-person testimony concludes, whichever occurs first. Please note that if you are watching via City TV 24 or online, there may be a delay. Please participate via the audio on your phone and uh mute your TV or computer when it is your turn to speak. If you wish to speak on a particular item, wait for the item to be called, then raise your hand to speak by tapping the raise your hand icon. Or if you are a call-in participant, press star nine on your phone to raise your hand. If you raise your hand during a non-comment period, your hand will be lowered. Chair. Thank you very much for reviewing the instructions for the public to participate today. A quorum is now present, and we will begin by taking up the approval of the committee actions of September 20th, 2023. Natalie, do we have any public comment on the committee actions of September 20th? Thank you, Chair. We currently do not have any hand uh speaker slips submitted for those in chambers, but we do have one hand raised in the virtual queue. So we will move over to the virtual queue. Dan Schmikowski, you will have one minute for comment on the approval of the committee actions. Please begin. Is that is that correct? Uh Mr. Smikowski, that's item one. This is currently approval of the past committee action. So please raise your hand when we go to item one. And Chair, that will conclude public comment on the past committee actions. All right, thank you very much. Um I will take any questions, comments. Is it a motion by Council Marcampio?
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