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The San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury released a report this week calling for stricter oversight for law enforcement agencies’ use of automated license plate reader cameras.
Police departments use the ALPR cameras to investigate crimes like stolen vehicles. But privacy watchdogs have raised concerns about federal agencies being able to access the camera data — a potential violation of state law — and using it for targeted surveillance of immigrants and other vulnerable groups.
Over the last few months, many Bay Area cities and counties have been reexamining their contracts with Flock Safety, the manufacturer of these cameras, considering the federal administration’s crackdown on immigrants and the company’s checkered record of sharing ALPR data with federal agencies like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
For its report released Aug. 3, the Civil Grand Jury, comprising 19 volunteer members, reviewed publicly available information about ALPR use published by 18 law enforcement agencies in the county, including the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. They also examined contracts, policy documents, and audit reports from each agency, and conducted interviews with officers and Flock Safety representatives.
California’s civil grand jury system provides independent investigations into issues in counties and is composed of residents who select which areas or problems they want to explore. The jury creates its report and then requires leaders such as boards of supervisors, city councils or city or county departments to respond.
The report noted that the county’s law enforcement agencies have made improvements in the operation of the ALPR cameras, but many policy documents governing their use are deficient or in need of revision.
Also, though the agencies were vigilant about not sharing ALPR data with out-of-state agencies, there remain inconsistencies in their audit procedures.
“Most operators did not document criteria, process, or controls governing in-state sharing in a manner sufficient to demonstrate compliance with law,” the report said.
For example, California law requires that law enforcement agencies only share ALPR data with other public agencies in the state. However, all but one of the 18 law enforcement agencies shared data with private university security departments without establishing whether that entity qualified as a public agency.
A lack of established criteria for in-state data sharing and insufficient compliance language in contracts with Flock Safety were other common issues identified across agencies.
Police departments from Menlo Park and Atherton are among those that accidentally let out-of-state agencies tap into their Flock license plate reader systems, while Redwood City is under pressure to drop Flock as its vendor as it seeks a new contract for APLR services this fall.
San Mateo County Sheriff Ken Binder and all local city councils in the county will be required to respond to the report.
“The Sheriff’s Office is committed to ensuring the technology is being used for its intended purpose and has a strict ALPR policy governing its use,” a spokesperson for the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office said in an email statement. “Compliance is verified through periodic audits conducted by the Sheriff’s Office personnel.”
This story was written by Tanay Gokhale for Bay City News.
