SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – On Monday, San Diego city leaders highlighted their crime fighting technology - Smart Streetlights - and it's successbeing used by San Diego Police.
"Relief, because there wasn't any waiting around to find out where he was or if they were going to find him out now,” Amanda Hartwell said.
One of the 229 cases where the smart streetlight were used was a case involving Hartwell’s daughter.
ABC 10News following through with her months afterthe tech helped catch her daughter's and another child's would-be alleged kidnapper in two separate incidents at a Mission Valley mall in June.
"So I was very impressed by how fast they located him. And I didn't even realize what technology they were using that, you know, was available actually,” Hartwell said.
Other law enforcement agencies in the County are also looking to implement similar technology.
"And we really do see it as a force multiplier,” Lt. Nathan Rowley, San Diego County Sheriff's Department, said.
The agency told ABC 10News that it’s looking to install roughly 60 license plate readers in unincorporated parts of the county. The department said it currently has the following fixed ALPRs in its contract cities of Encinitas (27 cameras), Solana Beach (8 cameras), Del Mar (5 cameras), Poway (8 cameras) and San Marcos (15 cameras).
"When we look at our unincorporated areas, you know, we only have three detectives for nearly 400 square miles. So, to be able to help our detectives out and be able to get the information, it'll really help us in the end,” Rowley said.
But there have been groups like the Trust SD Coalition who have been against the Smart Streetlight and license plate reader technology.
"It should be very simple for them to produce the data for independent verification on how the technology is being used so that everyone can look at it together and we can all agree, 'Oh this is such an amazing system with such amazing results,” Seth Hall, a member of Trust SD Coalition, said.
The City has tired to address these concerns. SDPD said cameras are not actively monitored, and data is permanently deleted within 13 days for the smart streetlights and 30 days for the automatic
