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Photo: Google Streetview

In San Diego, ‘Smart’ Streetlights Spark Surveillance Reform

Camera-equipped street lamps were supposed to gather traffic data; instead, their video footage went to police. Now lawmakers are pushing back. 

A homicide detective looked up from the scene of a fatal shooting in San Diego’s Gaslamp District in August 2018 and saw something unusual: The streetlight glowing overhead didn’t look like a normal streetlight.

That’s because it wasn’t. The LED light on the pole was also equipped with an optical sensor. As it illuminated the city, it was capturing 24-hour video footage of the scenes beneath it.