Public Works to Brief City Committee About Camera System for City Refuse Trucks

The Pasadena Department of Public Works is scheduled to brief the Municipal Services Committee on Tuesday, Oct. 7, on a plan to add camera systems to the city’s refuse trucks.

The presentation is an information-only item, so no vote is scheduled. The committee, an advisory panel of the City Council, would receive it, with any decision to adopt or buy the technology resting ultimately with the City Council.

The system would equip Resource Recovery and Recycling Division trucks with eight cameras and a bird’s-eye view for 360-degree visibility, which the department said would eliminate pedestrian and cyclist blind spots and flag unsafe driving. Cameras would log each container pickup with location data, record missed stops and blocked or misplaced carts, and detect overloaded or contaminated containers, flagging materials for SB 1383 compliance.

Clear video would help resolve disputes and reduce false claims, the department said. The cameras would capture only what is visible from public areas — not inside homes — and faces and license plates would be blurred if footage is released as a public record. Continuous video would stay on a secure onboard digital video recorder for up to 14 days, while event clips would move to a vendor cloud and be kept one year under state law.

The free special meeting is set for 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7, in the Council Chamber, Room S249, at Pasadena City Hall, 100 North Garfield Avenue. Residents may attend in person, join online at cityofpasadena.net/cczoom, call 1-669-900-6833 (meeting ID 161 482 446), or watch at pasadenamedia.org. For more, call (626) 744-7311 or visit cityofpasadena.net/commissions/agendas.