When city realizes it can use surveillance tech to add revenue, watch out

The pro-con essays published on these pages Thursday about San Diego police’s use of Flock Safety’s automatic license-plate readers to help solve crimes had a familiar cadence. Flock’s CEO made the “force multiplier” case that the readers are an invaluable tool, a view shared by City Hall. A local privacy advocate detailed the enormous potential for abuses if information provided by this mass surveillance technology was used for nefarious purposes.

But at some point, this local debate will take on a new dimension. That will come when elected leaders realize the potential of surveillance technology to generate government revenue — and help rescue them from decades of fiscal mismanagement.

This is already happening in Britain. London and other cities use CCTV technology to generate hundreds of millions of pounds each year in fines that are automatically assessed to vehicle owners for not just speeding but being in restricted areas, using bus and other restricted lanes, and even illegal parking. Britain also uses its CCTV network to generate fines for waste dumping, littering, unauthorized camping, public urination and drunkenness, fireworks use and excessive noise. Singapore and South Korea have similar policies.

And what’s being done in Italy should thrill Sean Elo-Rivera: The council member whose rhetoric depicts tourists as exploiters will no doubt nod happily upon hearing that cities like Rome and Florence use CCTV to pounce on visitors who sit on monuments or eat in areas where such outrageous behavior is forbidden.

Anyone who thinks that city leaders would balk at embracing surveillance tech to prop up a budget broken by never-checked compensation costs isn’t paying attention. The idea that residents would be charged to park at Balboa Park would have seemed unfathomable not long ago, but our leaders went there.

If they can generate revenue without needing voter approval to avoid having to make tough decisions to limit spending — and the method can be depicted as being about law enforcement, not paying for pensions — it will seem like low-hanging fruit. Great. Just great.