San Diego police chief uses emergency powers again to install surveillance cameras ahead of Comic-Con – San Diego Union-Tribune
For the second time in recent weeks, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl has invoked an emergency exception to expedite the installation of surveillance cameras, this time in downtown San Diego for Comic-Con.
The chief first used the legal provision earlier this month to install streetlight cameras in Hillcrest ahead of the Pride Parade, citing an increase in hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community.
This week, Wahl said in a memo that he again had to bypass the city’s usual approval process because San Diego Comic-Con International, an annual convention that draws tens of thousands of people, “could serve as a potential target for individuals or groups interested in violent or criminal acts.”
He added in a statement that he would “not allow public safety to be compromised during my watch without knowing that I have taken the necessary steps to protect the thousands of residents and visitors attending this event.”
Wahl also said that while the department was not aware of any credible threats, “that could change at any time.”
According to the memo, nine cameras have been installed on eight downtown arteries: West Broadway Street, Broadway Street, East Harbor Drive, F Street, Sixth Avenue, Market Street, E Street and G Street. They were activated Wednesday, police officials said.
The move again drew criticism from privacy advocates who argued that Wahl’s use of the statutory exception – in both cases – amounted to an abuse of his emergency powers.
In a statement, the TRUST SD Coalition, the consortium of groups that helped craft the city’s surveillance law that governs how technologies like smart streetlights are used, said emergency powers are given to city departments so they can “respond quickly to active life-threatening incidents or specific threats that departments become aware of in the short term. SDPD has confirmed that neither of these circumstances exist in San Diego.”
Last year, the City Council approved the Police Department’s proposal to install 500 traffic cameras equipped with license plate readers at specific locations across San Diego. While those approved locations included streetlights in downtown San Diego, the most recent locations were not among them.
The department has since installed 440 so-called smart street cameras that have been used to aid about 120 investigations, police officials said.
Several dozen cameras have not been installed due to various infrastructure issues, such as streetlights without power or buildings blocking the cameras’ view. This situation has prompted a new proposal that would give the department more flexibility in choosing where to place its cameras, but this change has not yet been considered by the city council.
San Diego’s oversight ordinance states that if city departments wish to use previously approved technology in a new location, the Council must approve the change, unless compelling circumstances are involved.
California courts have defined exigent circumstances as “an emergency requiring prompt action to prevent imminent danger to life or serious property damage, or to prevent the imminent escape of a suspect or the destruction of evidence.” This is a statutory exception that sometimes allows officers to conduct warrantless entry, search, and seizure, which are generally prohibited by the Fourth Amendment.
The city’s surveillance ordinance provides a similar definition, describing exigent circumstances as “an emergency involving danger of death or serious physical injury to an individual, or imminent danger of substantial property damage, that requires the use of surveillance technology, as determined by city personnel acting in good faith based on known facts.”
The surveillance order’s exceptional circumstances clause has long been a source of concern for advocates who helped craft the surveillance law. An early version of the order didn’t even include the emergency clause, in part out of concern that it could be used to circumvent the order’s requirements.
“This is an alarming signal that our city’s police department does not see itself as accountable to our laws or our communities,” TRUST SD said. “Our city’s surveillance ordinance calls on our city departments to engage with the community, experts, and the City Council in open and public proceedings when considering the use of invasive mass surveillance technology.”
“It is only through this transparent and accountable approach that city leaders can hope to maintain the trust of communities while simultaneously monitoring and recording our daily lives,” the statement added.
While the department is not waiting for approval before installing the cameras, the City Council will have a chance to vote on the additional locations in the coming weeks. Wahl has previously said that if the council rejects the proposal, department officials will remove the newly installed cameras.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
