Did City Code Enforcement Give Your Home a Blight Score?
NBC5 Investigates has now obtained city records showing Dallas homes are now being blight scored by AI cameras the city recently mounted on trash trucks. Cameras that capture images of your home and use AI to identify possible code violations. In some cases leading to warnings that could eventually result in fines. Tonight, senior investigative reporter Scott Friedman has the list of thousands of properties scored so far and why some homeowners and privacy advocates have concerns.
NBC 5 Trash Truck AI Camera and Blight Scores
This all comes as debate rages nationwide over AI flock cameras police use to track vehicles. In Dallas, bulk trash collection trucks now have AI cameras too, not focused on streets but homes. Records we obtained through a city open records request show the city tested the AI cameras in April, ramped up use over the summer, and now hundreds of homeowners are receiving city code enforcement warnings after the trash truck rolled past their homes.
City Code Enforcement Database of Properties Photographed with Trash Truck AI Cameras
As the trash goes out in Dallas, pictures now pour in. NBC5 Investigates obtained this city code enforcement database showing addresses of more than 21,000 properties photographed with trash truck AI cameras since April. Homes where the camera detected at least one code violation and assigned a blight score. Four is the worst and one is the least severe.
Example of a Homeowner Receiving a Blight Score by City Code Enforcement
Ty Williams owns a house near Forest Lane and Webb Chapel where the records show a trash truck AI camera detected a chimney paint issue and assigned the property a blight score of two. He’s guessing the camera spotted this discoloration on the chimney, which he says may be mildew. We requested the trash truck AI camera images of this property and others to see exactly what the AI cameras saw, but the city hasn’t released the images yet.
Williams says he never got a code violation notice from the city, even though the city database says an inspector reviewed the camera images and sent what the city calls a courtesy notice, a notice that asks a property owner to voluntarily fix a violation before a city reinspection. If it’s not fixed, it can eventually lead to fines.
Blight Score by Code Enforcement is a Money Grab
He’s convinced the city is trying to ramp up city code enforcement revenue by putting more virtual eyes on homes. Williams is a real estate broker who bought this house as an investment and says he’d be happy to clean the brick if the city wants. He worries about other homeowners dealing with bigger issues and smaller budgets.
Records show across the city code enforcement has sent courtesy notices to the owners of more than 500 properties that received blight scores from early April to early August. In recent weeks, the city says that number has climbed to 1,800. In a statement, the city told us it uses blight scores only as a way to prioritize detections and as a way to help human reviewers who decide which properties get notices.
Attorney Daniel Wojsla – National Nonprofit Institute for Justice
“I immediately have concerns any time the phrase blight score comes up because blight is often used by cities around the country as a pretext.”
Daniel Wojsla is an attorney with the national nonprofit Institute for Justice, a civil liberties law firm. He fears a city could use blight score designations to ramp up fines on property owners, which might lead to pushing some residents out.
“What you have is some cities basically saying, Hey, these properties are blighted, so we’re taking them, and then turning around immediately and giving it to a private developer. “
City Detect – Reactive to Proactive City Management
