Dallas increases surveillance amid ‘smart city’ initiatives

A Dallas neighborhood has increased government surveillance as part of a “smart city” initiative by Dallas officials.

Smart cities employ technologies that collect data on the environment and residents to supposedly improve city operations. Some see the concept as a violation of privacy by authorities, particularly since these advanced technologies — which are part of the Internet of Things (IoT) — are often inconspicuous and operate incognito.

In 2021 the City of Dallas earmarked nearly $4 million to transform Red Cloud, a neighborhood in Southeast Dallas with a reputation for crime, into a smart community. All streets, sidewalks, and alleys were outfitted with smart technology, reports Axios. WiFi was provided to 190 homes across 21 acres. Air Quality Environmental Monitors (AQEMs) were installed to monitor air quality. The city also installed LED streetlights with AI-enabled surveillance cameras.

LED surveillance streetlights are a staple feature of smart cities and have been one of Red Cloud’s crowning achievements. Dallas officials credit the surveillance cameras for a reduction in crime because they "discouraged a lot of the illicit activities.” 

Authorities have declared Red Cloud a success. In May, the city won an award for its Red Cloud Neighborhood Smart Cities Pilot Project at the Smart Cities Connect Spring Conference & Expo, an annual event for the smart city industry.

Dallas Performance Management Program Administrator Jacob McCarroll says the technology — particularly the cameras — have brought residents “peace of mind and safety” and inched the neighborhood closer to a “happier” utopia.

"We were totally trying to give the neighborhood a 180," McCarroll said. "If you drive through it now — just for two minutes — it's pretty amazing, just the overall morale boost."

"Neighbors are happier, nicer, smilier, now that we have the cameras there," he added. "It's just a much more welcoming environment."

In total, 52 devices — or “quality of life improvements,” as officials refer to them — were installed in Red Cloud and McCarroll says the city plans to add automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras to read license plates. The city also intends to replicate the project in other neighborhoods.

Last year Dallas became Texas’ first municipality to implement a drone program. The city can deploy the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from any of six locations for a variety of purposes such as construction inspection, emergency management, crowd control and law enforcement.