Some stories grab a whole city’s attention — not because of the headline, but because of what could have happened. That’s what unfolded in Mission Valley last year, where two separate attempts to lure children away rattled families and demanded answers fast. 

Investigators didn’t have days. They had minutes.

The turning point came when San Diego Police Department detectives combined two powerful tools: Smart Streetlights, which helped them spot the suspect vehicle moving through Downtown, and our Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) system, which alerted officers the moment that same vehicle passed an ALPR camera. One alert — a plate number, a timestamp, a location — shifted the entire investigation. Patrol units immediately moved to the area around State Route 94 near the Home Avenue exit, where they found and arrested the man accused of attempting to kidnap two children at a Mission Valley mall.  

That wasn’t the only case where ALPR changed what happened next. 

When a gray sedan was caught on fuzzy surveillance after a string of overnight burglaries from Tierrasanta to University City, the footage was only able to show a partial plate number. ALPR data quickly gave detectives a potential license plate and vehicle connected to the burglaries. Weeks later, when an alert hit near I-5 and SR-56, officers finally had what they needed: location, timing, and direction of travel. The suspect was arrested, ending a spree that had many small business owners in San Diego on edge.  

In Hillcrest, a bar vandalized with swastikas and hateful slurs left neighbors shaken. Witnesses saw only an older Buick with a missing hubcap. ALPR images helped detectives narrow that vague description to a specific vehicle tied to the scene — the lead they needed to identify and arrest the suspects responsible.  

And in a College Grove case involving the sexual assault of a young girl, ALPR images helped confirm the suspect’s vehicle was at the exact location and time of the crime. That confirmation tightened the investigative timeline and contributed to a swift arrest and successful prosecution.  

This past week, the City’s Public Safety Committee unanimously voted to continue the use of ALPR. The item will be considered by the full City Council on December 9. In case after case across San Diego, the pattern is the same: traditional police work meets precise, timely information. ALPR doesn’t replace investigators — it gives them the critical piece of evidence that connects the dots, narrows the search, or sends officers to the right place at the right moment. 

For the families, businesses, and communities shaken by these crimes, those moments made all the difference.