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The city of East Palo Alto unanimously approved the East Palo Alto Police Department’s request to install automated license plate readers in the city at a Tuesday council meeting, pushing the new program forward.
Now, a one-year pilot is set to roll out once cameras and the new system is installed, but there is no projected date. For the first year, the program will cost approximately $82,000.
While Police Chief Jeff Liu has been eyeing the technology since July, he officially requested that the council approve installing the Flock cameras – a brand of automated license plate recognition devices – on Sept. 17.
Various local cities use the Flock cameras already like Palo Alto, Redwood City, Atherton and Woodside. In May, Menlo Park moved forward with a two-year pilot of the technology.
Following the authorization of East Palo Alto surveillance cameras at Jack Farrell Park, Martin Luther King Jr. Park and the pedestrian overcrossing in 2022, Liu said the license plate readers could provide additional safety to the community.
If approved, Liu said at the September meeting, 25 non-mobile cameras would be installed throughout the city and document the rear end license plates on cars. They do not capture the front end of vehicles, nor the drivers and passengers, according to Liu.
He recommended the system keep camera data for 30 days before deleting it permanently, so that if a crime occurred, police could search through the footage.
“When Flock collects the footage, the technology allows the system to check against state databases and look for wanted vehicles, stolen vehicles, Amber Alert vehicles, Ebony Alert vehicles,” Liu said in September. “Any car that is entered in as a wanted vehicle will hit against a Flock camera and send an alert to one of the users that is logged on, commonly law enforcement or dispatch.”
Police officers wouldn’t be able to scour through all the data, Liu said. They would have to log in, enter a specific case number and search accordingly, while their activity is tracked, he said.
District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said there have been hundreds of cases throughout San Mateo County where Flock cameras found vehicles involved in crimes.
During public comment, members of the public felt apprehensive about the technology, especially in a largely minority community.
“I want to reiterate that things that make people safe and lower crime rates are things like employment, making sure folks have enough to eat in the street, a lot of things that create crime are lack of finances and lack of opportunities,” said JT Feragi at the September meeting during public comment, urging the council to prioritize data security and people first.
While council members agreed that the technology is useful, they requested that the draft policy be revised to further detail data-protection, privacy and officer-compliance policies.
On Tuesday, Liu clarified how the police department would maintain officer-compliance and privacy.
Specifically, it was clarified that harassment, intimidation, personal-use of data and immigration enforcement would be prohibited.
In an officer’s first-time offense of improper use, Liu said, like entering the wrong case number, it would be deemed a mistake, and the officer would have to go through a retraining program. On an officer’s second offense, the department would deem it intentional, and disciplinary action would be taken – he did not specify the repercussions.
Council member Ruben Abrica thanked Liu for the policy specifications regarding immigration.
“Given the times, this is a concern for a lot of the immigrant community,” he said.
Liu also specified the data-retention time frame. According to state and federal guidelines, it is recommended that the system keep camera data for a year, whereas the American Civil Liberties Union ideally recommends three minutes. The 30-day window mirrors Bay Area police departments’ plans, like Redwood City, Oakland and Menlo Park.
Other neighboring agencies keep data for longer, like Woodside at 60 days.
“I’m just not convinced 30 days is the right amount of time,” said Council member Carlos Romero, pushing for a shorter retention period.
Oftentimes police are unaware of suspect vehicles for weeks, Liu said, if the data-retention period is shortened, they might miss the vehicle.
East Palo Alto City Council approved the program with the recommendation of Romero that the group officially meet every three months throughout the pilot to discuss effects.
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