San Jose has moved to tighten controls on its automated license plate reader program after months of public criticism and amid an ongoing lawsuit challenging the city’s use of the technology, the Associated Press reported. On Tuesday, the City Council voted unanimously to adopt additional safeguards for the city’s license plate reader network, which relies on 474 cameras, while supporters said the system has become an important investigative tool for the police department.
Mayor Matt Mahan said the council’s decision struck the right balance. “I personally believe — from everything I have read, seen, studied, discussed with folks in the city and outside the city — that we’ve struck the right balance here,” Mahan said during the meeting, describing the new rules as a compromise between public concerns and public safety needs.
Among the changes, the council reduced the default retention period of license plate reader data from one year to 30 days. The approved measure also tightened where cameras may be installed, including a prohibition on placing cameras outside abortion clinics, health care facilities offering gender affirming care, consulate offices, and places of worship.
The council also expanded access controls for law enforcement agencies seeking to search the database. Under the new rules, agencies requesting searches will need to provide additional compliance documentation describing the type of crime under investigation and the case number tied to the request. The measure also requires command-level approval for any law enforcement request when the agency does not already have a data access agreement with the San Jose Police Department.
Even before the council’s vote, partner agencies seeking access had to provide what the city described as a “legitimate law enforcement purpose,” and the program already barred use for investigating a person’s immigration status and for monitoring legally protected activities such as protests or rallies. Tuesday’s changes built on those restrictions by adding more documentation requirements and elevating internal approval when access agreements are not in place.
The vote comes against a backdrop of increasing scrutiny of the technology. In November, a coalition of local advocacy groups sued San Jose, alleging that allowing warrantless searches of license plate data violates drivers’ privacy rights, according to the AP report. Nick Hidalgo, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and one of the attorneys involved in the lawsuit, said he was encouraged by the new safeguards but argued they still fell short.
Hidalgo said the city should limit searches to requests supported by a judicial warrant. He told San José Spotlight: “Otherwise, it’s a violation of our California constitutional right to privacy and to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures,” adding, “These (cameras) are ripe for abuse.”
The council’s action also followed contract withdrawals nearby earlier this year. AP reported that three South Bay jurisdictions — Santa Clara County, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View — terminated their contracts with Flock Safety, the Atlanta-based vendor of the license plate reader system, amid concerns that the company allowed transfers of data to out-of-state law enforcement agencies in a way that state law bars. A Flock Safety spokesperson, Paris Lewbel, said the company’s customers control who accesses their data.
Lewbel told San José Spotlight: “Flock provides transparent tools, compliant with California law, that help solve serious crimes and find missing people while protecting civil liberties, and we welcome continued discussion with city leaders.”
City officials maintained that the department’s use of the database stays within policy and legal limits. AP reported that SJPD officials said audits conducted by the agency have confirmed the database has not been accessed for purposes that violate city policy or California law. Police Chief Paul Joseph told councilmembers that the technology has investigative benefits, saying he had not seen a technology advance so impactful to public safety.
Joseph said: “I have never seen a technology advance so impactful to our ability to keep the community safe as I have with these license plate reader cameras,” adding that it assists officers in locating at-risk people, improves coordination, and increases the solvability rate for detective cases.
During the meeting, critics said the cameras track people even when they are not suspected of a crime, and residents asked the city to end its relationship with the vendor. Huy Tran, executive director of Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network, said during a rally prior to the vote: “We put up these camera networks all over the place, and they track every single person that falls within their view, regardless of whether they’re suspected of a crime or not.”
Tran added that supporters of the technology were overstating its crime-fighting value. “And so we’re not talking about fighting crime in that instance, right? We’re talking about tracking and monitoring what everyone does.”
Other residents spoke in support of keeping the cameras, warning that removing them would set back public safety efforts. South San Jose resident Lorrie Landis told councilmembers: “I’m here to say that we want the Flock cameras to remain as is,” saying, “They make our families and our neighborhoods safer…. I want the criminals found.”
Councilmembers acknowledged that some residents would remain dissatisfied. District 8 Councilmember Domingo Candelas said the council was codifying safeguards in response to concerns, while still voting to keep the technology in place. “I understand our community’s concerns, and that’s why I believe in codifying these safeguards,” Candelas said. “While I know that community advocates wanted more, know that we as a council are paying attention and that we will have oversight, and it will continue.’’
Although the measure passed, the decision did include further instructions aimed at potential future changes. The vote directed the City Manager’s Office to “explore alternative vendors” for automated license plate reader services. District 5 Councilmember Peter Ortiz, who pushed for that directive, said his concern was not with the technology itself but with the vendor, adding that he believed the city should end its contract, though he said he did not know whether it would have sufficient support for that outcome.
Ortiz said: “My concern is not with (automated license plate reader) technology itself,” and he added, “My concern is with Flock Safety as a vendor, and honestly, I believe we should end our contract with Flock today. But unfortunately, I don’t know if we have the votes for that.”
AP also reported that some residents questioned Mayor Matt Mahan’s participation in the vote, pointing to investments by contributors to his gubernatorial campaign in Flock Safety. City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood said the vote did not fall under California’s campaign finance laws because it did not involve a decision about contracting with the city.