SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — On State Route 94 East near the Home Avenue exit is where San Diego Police arrested a suspect - Rene Lujan - for allegedly not one but two kidnapping attempts in the Mission Valley mall this week.
Investigators found the suspect with the Smart Streetlights and Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR) in Downtown San Diego.
According to Ashley Nicholes, the San Diego Police Department's Strategic Communications Manager, the ALPRs capture an image at a point in time so that investigators can pull that footage and examine it when looking for a suspect.
“Whenever that vehicle hits within the City when that’s being driven, it’ll alert officers potentially in [the] area, and we can let them know, ‘Hey, this person might be in your area. Please keep a look out [for] this type of vehicle; this license plate,'” Nicholes said.
Since late last December, Nicholes told ABC 10News the Smart Streetlights have helped bring 81 suspects into custody, recover more than $1.137 million in stolen property and recover five guns.
“Most of the other agencies in the area have a similar technology so, it’s just important that we have this tool and be able to solve this crime quickly when they happen,” Nicholes said.
But the technology doesn’t come without some criticism. As ABC 10News previously reported, some groups, like Trust SD Coalition, have raised concerns about oversight regarding the tech.
“These license plate readers aren’t just collecting data on people who do violent things. They’re collecting on all of us as we are driving around the freeways. They’re catching data on members of the community,” Lilly Irani with the Trust SD Coalition said.
Nicholes told me the concerns are understandable, as privacy is important to everyone while the tech is being used responsibly.
"And we are ensuring that we are following the process the City has laid out to make sure that the public's informed and has those privacy controls in place,” Nicholes said.
