In an ambitious move to enhance efficiency within its code enforcement department, the City of Stockton is set to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) technology that promises to significantly reduce the city's ongoing issues with blight and code violations. This innovative program, which will cost the city nearly $240,000 annually, aims to support the understaffed department that currently operates with just 13 officers due to seven unfilled positions.
Local business owner Al Greco, who has operated his comic book shop on Stockton's Miracle Mile since the late 1970s, is all too familiar with the challenges of graffiti vandalism. "It just keeps coming back. It's never-ending," Greco expressed, hopeful yet skeptical about the potential impact of the new technology.
The AI technology, developed by Alabama-based company City Detect, utilizes predictive algorithms and cameras mounted on code enforcement vehicles to identify instances of graffiti, blight, and other city code violations automatically. This approach is designed to alleviate the workload of enforcement officers by allowing the AI to recognize and record violations during routine patrols.
"We are the first in California to have this software," noted Almarosa Vargas Fawal from the code enforcement department. According to Fawal, residents can expect to see these AI-equipped cameras in action by next year. She highlighted the technology's potential during a week-long test run earlier this January, where the AI detected 4,000 violations across 2,500 properties, a result that Fawal described as astounding.
Despite the promising test results, Greco remains cautiously optimistic. "There's still more they could do. AI can't solve everything," he remarked. The Stockton City Council hopes that this technological advancement will set a new standard for code enforcement and inspire similar adaptations in other regions.
