Dallas to Test AI Camera System on Sanitation Trucks

Tribune News Service —  The city of Dallas wants to find out if artificial intelligence and cameras can improve code enforcement, and we’re here for it.

The city is planning to use an AI-powered camera system to assist code enforcement. Attached to sanitation trucks, the cameras will watch out for violations like high weeds, illegal dumping and graffiti, City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert told us earlier this month.

There are plans for 100 cameras, set to be deployed in a gradual rollout sometime in 2026, Tolbert said. The city will monitor code compliance data to see if the cameras work well.

The goal is for the new camera system to allow the city to catch violators more proactively and deploy resources and staff more effectively, Tolbert explained.

When city officials first started discussing the cameras last year, the original plan was to place the cameras on code enforcement vehicles. But Tolbert explained that sanitation trucks are a better fit because they are more consistently out and about in Dallas neighborhoods.

The information the cameras collect will be sent to Dallas’ code compliance office for independent review — by a human being rather than a computer, a city spokesperson explained.

To many people, this idea probably sounds like the newest iteration of Big Brother peeking into our lives. And that’s an understandable response. Whether it’s your neighbor’s Ring doorbell or the fact that your phone seems to know what advertisements to show you based on your last conversation, the watchfulness of technology feels like it’s always closing in.

Dallas needs to be sensitive to privacy concerns and take steps to educate residents about what this tech is and how it will work. City leaders should also ensure that whoever operates the cameras and AI system has adequate data privacy and protection policies.

With all that said, it doesn’t seem these cameras will really be intrusive. Just like Google Street View cameras, they would only capture footage from the public right of way.

Most Dallas residents have experienced the frustration of struggling to get the city to address neighborhood blight. In this year’s community survey, neighborhood code enforcement ranked seventh out of 22 city services residents think should be a top priority for the city.

Dallas is trying to address that by leading the charge with this technology. The city would be the largest municipality in Texas to deploy the cameras, and city managers from cities around the country are keen to see the results, Tolbert said.

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