Committee places surveillance annual reports on file and approves pole-camera impact report after staff clarifications

The Somerville Legislative Matters Committee reviewed the city's updated surveillance-technology annual report (Feb. 2024 update) and voted to approve a surveillance-technology impact report (STIR) that reclassifies two previously used movable cameras as pole cameras.

The updated annual reports were placed on file; the committee recommended approval of the Pole Cameras STIR.

Why it matters: The annual reports provide transparency about city use of surveillance technology across departments. The STIR for pole cameras documents the reclassification of two devices and clarifies operations, data protection, training and costs.

Key points and staff explanations - Reclassification and equipment: Captain Shan (filed) and Lieutenant de Oliveira explained that the department upgraded several cameras using a U.S.C. grant and repurposed two older cameras as pole cameras. "We upgraded a couple of cameras with the USC grant," the department said during the meeting; the older units were reclassified and used at fixed pole locations for short, targeted investigative deployments. - Data protection and policy: Staff added language to the STIR to cross-reference the department's Video Surveillance Technology and Data Use policy, and clarified how access, requests and data handling conform to that policy. The committee requested and received clarifications that training, data access and evidence procedures follow departmental policy and applicable state rules of evidence. - Costs and vendor arrangements: The STIR notes that the USC camera maintenance contract with Lantel covers placement and movement of pole cameras and that reclassification of the two cameras created no incremental maintenance cost to the city. - Corrections to other reports: Police staff corrected ShotSpotter figures in the annual reporting package: 22 ShotSpotter alerts were recorded and ballistic evidence was recovered during the course of four investigations tied to ShotSpotter alerts.

Action taken - The committee placed the annual reports on file (no committee action required by ordinance) and recommended approval of the pole-camera impact report. The clerk recorded five councilors voting to approve the STIR.

Ending Committee members thanked staff for producing the clarifying revisions. Staff said they are working on improved public access to ordinances and related records; the legislative analyst said an updated public-facing code-of-ordinances system "should be online by the end of this month." The committee left the annual reports on file and advanced the pole-camera impact report for approval.