L.E.P.S.L.

February 20, 2021

L.E.P.S.L. PROGRAM
UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO
LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE
DEPARTMENT

Law Enforcement Use of Smart Streetlights for Anytown USA

(LEPSL 530 Module 6 assignment)
Authored by:
Lieutenant Nate Chio

Page |1

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

400 South Martin Luther King Blvd. · Las Vegas, Nevada 89141 · (702) 828-3111 · LVMPD.COM
 L.E.P.S.L. February 20, 2021

The purpose of this memo is to provide a brief overview of the smart streetlight technology and its potential use

by the police department in Anytown, USA. Recently, Anytown, USA installed hundreds of smart streetlights

throughout the city. San Diego, California has installed similar smart streetlights. San Diego uses various

biometric data captured by the smart streetlights for traffic concerns, curbside management, enhanced public

safety, environmental monitoring, enhanced bicycle route planning, and real estate development planning to name

a few (CSD, 2021).

Technology imbedded within the smart streetlights had an unforeseen benefit for law enforcement. The

streetlights have the capability to capture video and photographic images in their immediate surroundings. This

can provide a valuable investigative tool when a crime is committed within the scope of the surveilled area. The

police department was not involved in the planning, placement or aware of the surveillance capabilities prior to

the installation of the streetlights.

San Diego Police (SDPD) ran into widespread opposition from their use of smart streetlights surveillance footage

despite the success of its use in solving criminal cases. In 2019, SDPD utilized surveillance footage from smart

streetlights to close an unsolved homicide (Coronel, 2019). Soon after, SDPD faced a widespread backlash from

community groups over the perceived violation of privacy rights of the new technology. The following year the

San Diego City Council voted unanimously to approve an ordinance that would govern all surveillance

technologies in the city (Figueroa, 2020).

The backlash towards SDPD was not a unique event. Nationwide, there is an ongoing and historical debate about

the use of technology by the police. In 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States in Carpenter v. U.S.,

curtailed the use of cell site information by the police and required a search warrant (SCOTUS, 2018). The Seattle

police department was forced to abandon its use of unmanned aerial vehicles due to public perception of its

potential misuse (Schwartz, 2017). California recently passed AB1215 which prohibits law enforcement from

Page |2

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

400 South Martin Luther King Blvd. · Las Vegas, Nevada 89141 · (702) 828-3111 · LVMPD.COM
 L.E.P.S.L. February 20, 2021

utilizing any biometric surveillance system in connection with body worn cameras (CA, 2019). Portland, Oregon

recently approved the strictest ban on facial recognition technology in the country (Bailey, 2020).

There are valuable lessons to learn from SDPD’s experience and the nationwide trend to curtail the use of

technology by the police. Captain Jeff Jordan who oversaw the SDPD access to the smart streetlights, stated that

the rollout of the technology should have been done better with more community input and transparency prior to

the use by SDPD (Jordan, 2021). The following steps should be implemented by Anytown, USA police prior to

our use of this technology:

 A police officer with the rank of Lieutenant or higher, should be selected to head this project. This officer

will be the “face” of the program. The officer needs to be well spoken and comfortable speaking with the

media and special interest groups.

 The police department should send a delegation to meet with SDPD smart streetlight program manager,

or at the very least, have a conference call. We can learn from their experience with the technology and

the public.

 The police department should hold a meeting with the District Attorney’s office and our department

attorneys to determine the legal requirements for access to surveillance footage. There should be a very

conservative approach on obtaining the footage. A requirement that a search warrant or court order be

required to obtain surveillance footage will provide judicial oversight and should be considered.

 The police department should write a procedural policy about the access and use of smart streetlight

footage. There should be a clear, concise policy that delineates the criminal behavior needed for access

to the footage. Violent crimes and significant property damage should be the only criteria. A statement

in the policy that the police department will not access the footage for random surveillance or peaceful

protests should be included.

Page |3

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

400 South Martin Luther King Blvd. · Las Vegas, Nevada 89141 · (702) 828-3111 · LVMPD.COM
 L.E.P.S.L. February 20, 2021

 Community outreach should be done through meetings with community stakeholders to address any

concerns they have. These stakeholders should include the NAACP, ACLU, Victim Advocate groups,

Business Owner coalitions and law enforcement. Input from these community stakeholders should help

shape the department’s policy on this issue.

 Once the policy and procedures have been finalized with input from community stakeholders, the

department should hold a public press conference. The press conference should include a detailed account

of the surveillance capabilities of the smart streetlights, a history of the implementation of the program,

and the police department’s policies and procedures on accessing the data. The community stakeholders

should join in the press conference to show that they were part of this process.

 Continued education and public information sharing should be done by the department on the evolving

use of the smart streetlights. As cases are solved with this technology, those success stories should be

highlighted to the media.

Technology is advancing at an unprecedented pace. 56.8% of the world’s population use the internet. The global

Artificial Intelligence market is expected to reach $89.8 billion by 2025. The internet of things, which is the

number of items embedded with sensors, software, and other technologies for the purpose of connecting and

exchanging data, is expected to reach a revenue of $3 trillion by 2025 (Galov, 2021).

As technology advances, law enforcement will adapt some of these technologies for its use to solve crimes and

for public safety. With each adaptation, law enforcement must be transparent and must fully inform the

community it serves. Only with public support and education can the police mitigate the fear of “Big Brother”

type enforcement. Sir Robert Peel, commonly known as the father of modern policing, may have said it best,

“The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police existence, actions,

behavior and the ability of the police to secure and maintain public respect” (Peel, 1829).

947 words; 20 words for citations

Page |4

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

400 South Martin Luther King Blvd. · Las Vegas, Nevada 89141 · (702) 828-3111 · LVMPD.COM
 L.E.P.S.L. February 20, 2021

REFERENCES
Bailey, E., Portland Approves Strictest Ban on Facial Recognition Technology in the U.S. (2020); Portland, Oregon. The
Oregonian.

California Assembly (CA), CA Assembly Bill 1215 (2019), University of San Diego. Law Enforcement and Public
Safety Leadership; LEPSL 530, Module 5 readings.

City of San Diego (CSD), Smart Streetlights Program (2021); University of San Diego. Law Enforcement and Public
Safety Leadership; LEPSL 530, Module 5 readings.

Coronel, M., Court documents reveal details in Church’s chicken murder investigation (2019); San Diego, CA., KGTV
San Diego.

Figueroa, T. San Diego City Council unanimously backs ordinances to govern surveillance technologies (2020); San
Diego Union Tribune.

Galov, N., How Fast Is Technology Growning-Can Moore’s Law Explain the Progress Still? (2021). Hosting Tribunal.
Retrieved at: https://hostingtribunal.com/blog/how-fast-is-technology-growing/#gref.

Jordan, J., Spotlight Expert: Surveillance, Ethics & Technology Part 1 (2021); University of San Diego. Law
Enforcement and Public Safety Leadership; LEPSL 530, Presentation 5.1.

Peel, Sir Robert., Principles of Law Enforcement (1829). Retrieved at:

http://www.impsec.org/~jhardin/gunstuff/writings/Peels_Principles_Of_Law_Enforcement.pdf.

Schwartz, S., Big Brother or Trusted Allies? How the Police Can Earn Community Support for Using Unmanned Aircraft
(2017); Monterey California. Naval Postgraduate School

Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), Carpenter v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 2206 (2018), University of San
Diego, Law Enforcement and Public Safety Leadership, LEPS 530-Module 2 readings.

Page |5

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

400 South Martin Luther King Blvd. · Las Vegas, Nevada 89141 · (702) 828-3111 · LVMPD.COM