Chula Vista City Council held its first in-person council meeting on April 20, with all council members present and the ability for people to come into chambers for in-person comments. Directed by council, the Chula Vista Police Department came back to council to make recommendations on its Automated License Plate Reader Program, which came under scrutiny in December 2020 when information surfaced that data collected was shared through a third-party systems provider to ICE and the Border Patrol. The CVPD then suspended data sharing with ICE and Border Patrol pending the staff report to council. The ALPR system is contracted by Vigilant Solutions/Motorola Solutions.
After a thorough presentation at the March 30 council meeting and a public forum held virtually April 7, the CVPD came back with the following recommendations to the ALPR.
Only share data with other California law enforcement agencies and no data shared with any federal agencies; continue to include the Police Department Advisory Committee in the policy review process; provide quarterly updates to the Human Relations Commission, participate in community-wide technology forums; explore how the ALPR can be implemented for equal representation city wide, seek an independent review of the program; and update the transparency, accountability web page with current information on the system. CVPD Chief of Police Roxana Kennedy requested that the California Department of Justice to conduct a formal audit of its ALPR system.
Kennedy said it was important to note that this issue will be an ongoing conversation in how technology should be used in the city to serve the community and balance privacy. She said she was concerned that some suggested the CVPD has been sharing personal identifying information with the Border Patrol and ICE, and engaging in practices that are unwelcoming, or spying on the community through ALPR.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” she said. “Know that I have stated before, that no personal identifying information is collected by ALPR, stored in ALPR systems, or shared with any law enforcement agency. Like dozens of ALPR programs in our county, or the hundreds across the state, our ALPR program does not in any way violate the California Values Act.”
Kennedy said the ALPR was not secret and has been used by the department for 14 years. She said in the 14 years of use, it is not aware of any allegation, or a complaint of misuse, or wrongdoing by the CVPD. She said that over the same period, this technology has had countless success stories where the system had a pivotal role in solving crimes and keeping the community safe. She said with recent increases in crime in the city, many residents are demanding more technology to protect the community, while others are asking for less. Violent crime is up 21% this year in Chula Vista.
“That include things like a 52% increase in armed robberies, 21% increase in aggravated assault, and a murder rate that has more than doubled our average,” she said and pointed out that the CVPD has taken in more than three times the number of guns off the streets.
Kennedy said that the city is still second safest city in the county, even though the department is the lowest staffed law enforcement agency in the county.
“Now is not the time to take away tools that have been proven effective and are part of the reason for our public safety success,” she said.
Kennedy reiterated that the system only collects license plate, time date and location, and does not hold personal information of the vehicle’s owner.
Out of approximately 11 public comments, three completely supported the CVPD’s ALPR system.
Ricardo Medina, a member of the Human Relations Commission said this issue is incredibly complex and overwhelming and that Council should hold off on taking action. He said the recommendation that the HRC quarterly reviews of ALPR is at question because it is at capacity and is beginning talks about what the role of the HRC is and is not. He urged a pathway to an independent oversight of ALPR and all other data sharing technologies.
Mayor Mary Salas said even with the arguments against the ALPR, she believed it was a necessary tool for an understaffed police department.
“We will continue the dialogue over the year,” she said. “But right now, I do not want to take away one tool away from our police officers. Not one.”
