Special Public Safety Committee Meeting - November 12, 2025
Special Public Safety Committee Meeting - November 12, 2025
The San Diego Special Public Safety Committee convened to review and vote on three primary items: amendments to the city's towing policy to address disproportionate impacts on low-income residents, and approval of the continued use of 54 surveillance technologies, with a specific focus on Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR) and Smart Street Lights. The meeting featured extensive public testimony regarding civil liberties, data privacy, and public safety outcomes, resulting in unanimous approval of all agenda items.
Consent Calendar
- Unanimous approval (4-0) of the committee minutes from October 29, 2025.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Opposition to Towing Citations: Speakers representing the Coalition for Equitable Development and Alliance San Diego (Mohammed Amar, Janica Faulkner, Chris Kennison, Jesse Schmidt, Patricia Mondragon, Ted Womack) expressed strong support for ending vehicle towing for expired registrations but voiced deep concern that continuing to issue citations risks perpetuating poverty. They argued that unpaid fines lead to credit damage, DMV holds, and collections, urging an amendment to prevent the city from reporting unpaid fines related to expired registrations to the DMV. Layla Aziz and Patricia DeArman cited personal experiences of police retaliation and misconduct, including the burial of complaints in the "miscellaneous" category and the improper touching of a minor, expressing fear that surveillance technology would exacerbate mistrust.
- Support for Towing Reform: Blair Beekman and David DeArman offered mixed perspectives; Blair Beekman supported the move toward best practices and noted issues with parking tickets on trolley corridors, while David DeArman shared that his son's vehicle was towed as evidence in a murder case, highlighting the difficulty of recovering vehicles. Nancy Bem and others echoed the need for the city to prevent data reporting to the DMV to avoid creating financial traps for vulnerable residents.
- Support for ALPR/Smart Street Lights: Catherine Douglas, Fred Taiko, Marcella Turan, Clayton Fowler, and Benjamin Nichols (Hillcrest Business Association) and Matthew Greco (District Attorney) expressed support, citing the technology's role in solving violent crimes, preventing kidnappings, and recovering stolen vehicles. Jared Wilson (San Diego Police Officers Association), Lt. Chris McCandrew, and the Mayor's office emphasized that the technology is a force multiplier for understaffed police and that new safeguards strictly prohibit data sharing with federal or out-of-state agencies.
- Opposition to ALPR/Smart Street Lights: Hamira Yusupi (PANA), Patricia Mondragon (Alliance San Diego), Jesse Schmidty, Nancy Rutherford, Jesus Martin, Shaheed Prince, Kiana Price, Michelle Woodson, Ian Ceruelo, and Ansad Mill J. Costrada (Labor Council) strongly opposed the continuation of the Flock ALPR partnership. They argued that the vendor has a history of data breaches, deceptive practices regarding immigration enforcement data sharing, and that the technology facilitates mass surveillance and racial profiling. They cited the Privacy Advisory Board's unanimous recommendation to cease use of Flock and urged the city to explore alternative vendors or cease the program entirely.
Discussion Items
- Amendments to Council Policy 500-3 (Towing Program): Councilmember Whitburn introduced an amendment to replace towing for vehicles with registrations expired over six months with citations. Staff presented data from a performance audit indicating that between 2017 and 2022, the city towed 25,000 vehicles for this reason, with 12,000 sold at lien sale. Chair Von Wilpert addressed concerns about citations creating new barriers, asking for a commitment to explore payment plans or waivers for citations for low-income residents. The Mayor's office and City Attorney committed to working with the Treasurer's office to find mechanisms to help residents clear fines to register their vehicles. Councilmember Campbell raised concerns about incentivizing registration through citations and questioned the need for lower-income programs for tow fees, to which the City Attorney and Mayor's office committed to further review.
- Continued Use of 54 Surveillance Technologies (ALPR & Smart Street Lights): The committee reviewed the 2024 Annual Surveillance Report and updated use policies. SDPD presented data showing ALPRs contributed to a 20% drop in motor vehicle thefts, solved one-third of homicides in 2024, and aided in locating missing persons and solving hate crimes. Chair Von Wilpert questioned the data retention period, leading to a defense of the 30-day window over the Privacy Advisory Board's requested 14 days to ensure successful prosecution of complex crimes. Security certifications (SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27018) were provided by City IT, and Flock Safety provided a written attestation regarding data compliance and the absence of breaches. Councilmember Campio and Councilmember Campbell defended the technology as "precision policing" that avoids blanket stops and protects civil liberties by focusing on specific suspects, noting that local data protections are stronger than those of major tech companies.
Key Outcomes
- Unanimous Approval of Towing Policy Amendments (4-0): The committee adopted the resolution to amend Council Policy 500-3, changing the enforcement method for overdue registrations from towing to citation. The policy includes a requirement for SDPD to report on the program's performance every three years and the city to report on the amendment's impacts before the end of FY 2027.
- Unanimous Approval of Surveillance Technology (4-0): The committee approved the continued use of 54 surveillance technologies, including ALPR and Smart Street Lights, under updated policies. The policy explicitly prohibits sharing data with federal agencies or out-of-state entities, requires quarterly public audits, and mandates a written attestation from Flock Safety. The committee retained the 30-day data retention period over the suggested reduction to 14 days.
- Commitments: The Committee secured verbal commitments from the Mayor's office and City Attorney to collaborate on mechanisms to waive or manage citations for low-income residents who have resolved their registration issues, and to conduct further review of tow company practices regarding low-income access to vehicles.
- Non-Agenda Comments: Public comments included a call for a community meeting regarding the audit of the Internal Affairs Unit, a call for stricter controls on alcohol retailers in Pacific Beach, and requests for enforcement of illegal cannabis/hemp delivery bans.
Meeting Transcript
And welcome to the special public safety committee meeting of November 12th, 2025. Our committee liaison, Sarah Jordan will provide information and instruction for the public on how to participate in today's meeting. Thank you, Chair. While 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 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. All right. Sarah, please call the roll. Vice Chair Campio? Here. Committee member Campbell. Here. Committee member Whitburn. Here. Chair Von Wilpert. Also attending the meeting today is Daniel Orloff from the Office of the City Attorney. Baku Patel from the office of the IBA and Coda Seiser from the Office of the Mayor. If you are in person, please complete a speaker slip located at the entrance of the committee room, excuse me, at the entrance of chambers, and place it in the box indicated at the table 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, and 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. This information is also available on the agenda and it will appear on the screen during the public comment period for each agenda item. Please note that if you're watching via City TV 24 or online, there may be a delay, and please participate via the audio on your phone and mute your TV or computer when it is 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 star nine on your phone. If you raise your hand during a non-comment period, your hand will be lowered. Chair. Hearing none, we will begin with our consent agenda, which is item one. Um now we won't proceed with public comment. Thank you, Chair. The public comment period for the consent agenda is now open, and the consent agenda includes item number one, which is the approval of the committee minutes from October 29th, 2025. Good afternoon, members. Um thank you for the chance to speak to the minutes. I noticed that Blair Beekman made reference to automatic automated license plate readers as part of his uh public comments last time. And I was actually um subjected to that technology in my private vehicle, which has a license plate, which I didn't know. That's actually on the agenda today. If the automated license is on the minutes, I'm referring to the minutes, and there were comments in the minutes about automated license plate readers. Correct, but we're uh if you comment on that, everyone's gonna want to comment on automatically and then we have that on our agenda today. So only if they are referring to the minutes, and I think we have the right to refer to the minutes. And Ms. Wilbur, if you are intending to become a state legislative officer, please be familiar with the Brown Act. I have a right to speak on the agenda item on the minutes, and the minutes included references to automated license plates readers. That means they are twice on the agenda, and I may speak twice on automated license plate readers. Uh please proceed. Thank you. I have a state legislator retired license plate that identifies me by my former district, and uh I was followed by police officers who were not trained to understand what those numbers and digits mean. In the course of trying to explain it to them when I saw them following me, I was told that this was an automated process where they track license plates randomly, and they were not familiar with my plate. They had entered it into the system and they didn't come up as a legitimate plate. And then two more cruisers, police cruisers came to my home to figure out what was wrong. This is the failure of automated technology, and police department needs to do better.
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