El Cajon Makes California History With AI-Powered Emergency Line
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El Cajon Police became the first law enforcement agency in California to deploy an AI call-taker on its non-emergency line when the system went live July 1st. Built by a company called Aurelian, the system — named Ava — fields roughly 100,000 non-emergency calls annually, answering immediately, collecting caller information, creating a call record, and routing it to a human dispatcher who reviews every interaction. The system offers built-in translation in English, Spanish, and Arabic with no hold time. Callers who want a human immediately can say the word 'human' three times. The one-year trial contract costs $74,000 — less than the annual salary of a single employee.
In Santee, the city held its July 8th regular council meeting under a new telephonic public comment policy effective July 1st, implementing California SB 707's requirement that the city accept remote comment from residents who pre-register by email with the City Clerk. Beginning Monday, Walker Preserve trail will narrow to 12 feet as county sewer rehabilitation work proceeds along the San Diego River corridor, with full closures expected during pipe-liner pulls and advance notice promised to residents.
A significant arrest rounded out East County's weekend: Anthony Caleb Johnson, 22, of Lakeside was booked into San Diego County Jail Saturday following a four-robbery spree in the early hours of July 10th. The robberies spanned a 7-Eleven on Fletcher Parkway in El Cajon as well as locations in Pacific Beach and Clairemont. San Diego and El Cajon police jointly identified Johnson using facial tattoos captured on surveillance footage and vehicle matches from automated license plate readers. His arraignment is scheduled for July 17th.
Former San Diego Sheriff's Deputy Jeremiah Manuyag Flores, 45, was sentenced for excessive force convictions and is now permanently barred from working in law enforcement at any level. Flores had been assigned in the East County region. In La Mesa, the City Council approved the final map for a 73-unit Meritage Homes condominium project at 9407 Jericho Road on June 23rd, clearing the last local hurdle for a development with units starting around $790,000, including eight moderate-income units. Community concerns about parking were noted, but neighbors who appealed have exhausted local remedies. The East County Advanced Water Purification project has also updated its completion target to late 2026 — a slip from the earlier spring 2026 estimate — for a $950 million facility that will eventually deliver up to 11.5 million gallons of purified water per day to roughly 400,000 residents.