I’m sure whoever thought this might be a good idea — that would be the Dallas city council members who approved this contract — thought no one would ever find out about it.
But nothing stays secret for long, not even furtive movements like this one, which added AI-addled cameras to garbage trucks with the apparent hope of providing the city with another revenue stream.
AI-powered cameras mounted on Dallas trash collection trucks have photographed and rated roughly 21,000 properties since April with a “blight score,” according to city records obtained by NBC 5 Investigates, raising concerns about privacy and whether the technology could lead to more code enforcement fines in lower-income neighborhoods.
That’s right, Dallas homes were being judged by cameras and algorithms, assigning “blight” scores to homes the garbage trucks serviced. It will come as no surprise to anyone that the highest concentration of cameras (and, consequently, the highest amount of “blight” determinations) targeted the poorest neighborhoods in Dallas.
Using the city’s data, NBC 5 Investigates mapped the locations of the roughly 21,000 properties where the cameras detected potential violations. The largest numbers were in Southern Dallas — including many in some of the city’s most economically challenged ZIP codes.
Having been apprised of this information by journalists, rather than the government reps whose paychecks rely on their tax dollars, residents began to express their opposition. Some saw it for what it was: yet another way to punish people for the “crime” of being poor. Others speculated it was just another tool in the gentrification toolbox, meant to encourage poorer people to move out of neighborhoods developers want to whiten and brighten on the cheap.
According to City Detect, the company that operates the cameras and manages the database, this isn’t a threat to people’s privacy. CEO Gavin Baum-Blake claims it’s up to the city how the system is used, but he firmly believes any use will be “fair.” He notes the system blurs license plates and faces, which does make it more difficult for law enforcement officers to abuse the images captured by the cameras.
But on the other hand, Baum-Blake’s claims the system is “not a tax on the poor” doesn’t really jibe with the actions of the same city City Detect’s CEO believes will only use the technology for good.
The city told NBC 5 Investigates that it has already sent 1,800 notices, which it calls “courtesy notices,” to owners of properties where cameras detected possible violations. The notices ask residents to make repairs voluntarily. If the problems are not addressed, the warning can eventually lead to additional enforcement and fines.
Well, that very much looks like a “tax on the poor.” The city told NBC 5 that the “goal” is to issue around 5,200 notices a year, which means issuing 14 notices a day if the city is operating this program 24/7/365. But it isn’t, so the daily rate will be much higher. Not only that, but the focus on poorer neighborhoods is bound to generate a higher than average “blight” rate, which means the 5,200 annual notices will never be evenly spread across Dallas, but rather concentrated in the areas where people are naturally more fearful of government interaction and less financially equipped to fight back when the system says something is “blight” when it (legally speaking) isn’t.
And when the poorest residents are unable to fight back, they’ll be hit with fines and fees they can’t afford, which will give the city leverage to place liens on property if not seize them outright for the supposed greater good of the city.
If there’s any upside to be seen here, it’s this:
The good news for locals is that the cameras might not be around for much longer. Dallas City Councilmember Chad West has proposed an amendment to the budget to stop funding the three-year, $2.5 million camera contract.
On the flip side, there are a bunch of caveats. The council member has already tabled the amendment to await further input from stakeholders. That might have been a good thing, but it sounds like the only stakeholders that will be involved in this are Dallas council members. A “hearing” is scheduled for December, but nothing in either article quoted suggests this will be a hearing that’s open to the public.
One wonders what sort of positive things the city might have been able to do with the $2.5 million it has spent so far on garbage truck AI blight cameras. I’m sure the city thought it made sense to spend a sum this small to collect on some blight payments. It wouldn’t take long to collect enough fines and fees to offset this expense, especially if the city decided to expand the surveillance range and reduce the tolerances applied to blight determinations. And while $2.5 million over three years wouldn’t do much to lift people out of poverty, the city could have just as easily decided not to do this and figure out a more positive way to beautify and restore some of the city’s poorer neighborhoods.