San Diego Public Safety Committee Special Meeting - July 23, 2025
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San Diego Public Safety Committee Special Meeting - July 23, 2025
The Public Safety Committee held a special meeting on July 23, 2025, to consider the consent agenda, the San Diego Fire Rescue Department's Annual Surveillance Report, and a contract extension with American Medical Response (AMR). The meeting was chaired by Chair Von Wilpert, with Vice Chair Campio, Councilmember Whitburn, and Councilmember Campbell (Dr. Jen) present. All votes were unanimous 4-0.
Consent Calendar
- Item 1: Approval of the committee minutes from June 27, 2025. No items were pulled. Public comment was provided by Blair Beekman, who discussed ALPR reduction and cost savings. The minutes were approved unanimously on a motion by Vice Chair Campio, seconded by Councilmember Whitburn.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Item 2 (Surveillance Report): Joyce Yada expressed excitement and full support for the bomb squad robots and UAS technology, praising the trust ordinance and PAB collaboration. Blair Beekman supported the technology but requested more detailed future presentations and emphasized that fire departments use technology responsibly, unlike police departments.
- Item 3 (AMR Contract): Joyce Yada supported the contract extension, noting her past concerns with AMR but trusting the current arrangement, and advocated for adequate funding. Paul Forney, representing AMR, thanked the city for the partnership and highlighted the 700+ AMR employees providing service.
- Non-Agenda Public Comments: Multiple speakers addressed various topics: Joyce Yada urged careful handling of the alliance model; Kathleen Lippett thanked Chair Wilpert for questioning ADU exploitation; Blair Beekman discussed ALPR reductions and called for de-escalation with federal agencies; Becky Rapp announced Dr. Renit Lev's reappointment to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and urged evidence-based marijuana policies; Madison raised safety concerns about nicotine pouches targeting youth; Megan Stewart cited poisonings (763% increase in nicotine pouch ingestions from 2020-2023) and called for childproof packaging and warnings; Terry Ann Skelly advocated for smoke-free and vape-free public housing and places.
Discussion Items
- Item 2: San Diego Fire Rescue Department Annual Surveillance Report – Deputy Fire Chief Steven Lozano, Chief of Air Operations Chuck McFarland, and Lifeguard Chief James Gartland presented the annual report as required by the surveillance ordinance (passed August 10, 2022). The report covered UAS drones and bomb squad robots (ground and underwater) for explosive response, funded through federal WASSI grants ($321,986.71). In 2024, drones flew 19 incidents (8 UAS flights), retaining imagery from two incidents (a cave rescue and Tijuana River debris). No complaints or violations were reported. Flights occurred in Council Districts 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, and over Santee. The Mission Bay cameras were not yet operational due to waterproof case issues but expected online in August 2025; the PAB had reviewed and recommended the technology with clarifying language on immigration enforcement. Committee members praised the technology's life-saving value and transparency. Motion to approve was made by Vice Chair Campio, seconded by Councilmember Whitburn, and passed 4-0.
- Item 3: Contract Extension with American Medical Response (AMR) – Deputy Fire Chief Becky Newell and Battalion Chief Aaron Bothwell requested a two-year extension (October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2027, or until a new RFP is awarded). The current rate is $242.30 per unit hour for 72 hours/day, with surge hours at $23.88/hour. The amendment adds $17,755,341 to the not-to-exceed amount (total $28,754,604), including a 15% contingency for surge hours. AMR is used for both regular and surge capacity (holidays, floods, large events), with Falk having first right of refusal. The system is meeting 90%+ response time compliance across all zones (non-life threatening inland was 89.9% in January but now above 90%). The city is hiring a consultant for an RFP for a future EMS system. Committee members noted the funding comes from patient payments, not the general fund, and discussed early termination provisions, surge events, and potential ER diversion programs. Motion to approve was made by Vice Chair Campio, seconded by Councilmember Whitburn, and passed 4-0.
Key Outcomes
- Consent agenda (minutes) approved unanimously.
- The 2025 annual surveillance report for the San Diego Fire Rescue Department (UAS, bomb squad robots, Mission Bay cameras) was approved unanimously, including acquisition and use policies with PAB-recommended modifications.
- The contract extension with AMR (two years, increased not-to-exceed amount to $28,754,604) was approved unanimously.
- The next regularly scheduled Public Safety Committee meeting is set for Wednesday, September 10, 2025, at 2 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. Good morning, everyone. And welcome to the special public safety committee meeting of July 23rd, 2025. Our committee liaison Sarah Jordan will provide information and instruction for the public to participate in today's meeting. Sarah, please proceed. Thank you, Chair Von Wilbert. Well, members of the public are able to attend the meeting 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 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. And committee member Campbell, can you please provide your ver virtual declaration at this time? Thank you. Yes. And I will update this disclosure if it changes during the course of the meeting. Thank you so much. Thank you. Also attending the meeting today is Laura Easton from the Office of the City Attorney. Bakupatel from the office of the IBA and Coda Zeiser from the office of the mayor. If you are in person, please complete a speaker slip located at the entrance of the committee room and place it in the box indicated on the table in the front of the room. And 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. And when prompted, input webinar ID 161-217-1797 pound. Please note that if you're watching via City TV 24 or online, there may be a delay. Please participate via the audio on your phone and mute your TV or computer when it's your turn to speak. If you wish to speak to a particular item, please wait for that item to be called and then raise your hand to speak by tapping the raise your hand icon, or if you're a call and participant by pressing start nine on your phone. If you raise your hand during a non-comment period, your hand will be lowered. Thank you very much for reviewing the instructions for the benefit of the public. A quorum is now present. And as a note, we're going to take non-agenda public comment at the end of the meeting today after our agenda items. Hearing none, we will now proceed to our consent agenda, which is item one. Do I have any requests to pull an item from the consent agenda? Okay, Sarah, please proceed with public comment. The consent agenda includes item one, which is the approval of the committee minutes from June 27th, 2025. We've not received any speaker slips here in the committee room. So I will begin the five minute timer for all those in the virtual queue to indicate if they wish to provide comment on the committee minutes. We'll begin testimony with Blair Beekman. If you can please unmute and provide your comment on the minutes, you will have one minute. All right, thank you. Uh Blair Beekman. Um you had items, uh discussion items on the CAD things and Smart Streetlight and ALPR program. It was a really important uh ALPR meeting where you described uh I kind of flipped out, but you begin to describe how your contract process uh can be suspended uh monetarily for a short amount of time uh in working out uh a review process that I have learned to uh tear down to 25 to 50 to 75 to 100 plus ALPRs really can be reduced, and that's a cost savings of up to 100,000 dollars. And and still maintain our still good uh public safety standards needed uh and and coverage needed with ALPR use. Really be reviewing it and wanting to do those practices, and that you've worked out a language uh that that's much better than the 2020 Smart Streetlight Policy. Thank you. Uh and how we do this review reference. Thank you. And chair seeing no other hands go up in the virtual queue. This concludes testimony for item one.
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