License plate readers coming to West LA's Cheviot Hills amid privacy and immigration concerns

More license plate readers will be installed in the Cheviot Hills neighborhood of West L.A. amid privacy concerns and revelations that police agencies are sharing data with immigration enforcement operations.

Automated license plate readers, also known as ALPRs, are usually installed at intersections and capture images of every license plate passing through. The data is stored with law enforcement agencies and can be used to find a vehicle owner’s information.

State law limits who can access the information, who it can be shared with, and how long the data can be kept. However, police agencies in California — including the L.A. Police Department — have illegally shared ALPR data with federal immigration agents, CalMatters reported.

But for some communities, the potential benefits of the ALPR cameras far exceed whatever privacy concerns people may have.

Why does Cheviot Hills want cameras?

Cindy Kane, secretary of the Cheviot Hills Neighborhood Association, said people living in the community requested the cameras because of recent home burglaries and calls for more safety measures.

Privacy concerns were considered before the neighborhood moved forward with the project, Kane added.

“It is important to note that the ALPRs will only collect and record information that is exposed to public view, where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy,” Kane wrote in an email. “Thus, we do not believe ALPRs unreasonably interfere with the privacy rights of drivers in Cheviot Hills.”

As far as providing information to ICE, Kane said L.A. is a sanctuary city and LAPD’s policy prohibits such sharing.

The City Council last week approved the transfer of $114,000 to the nonprofit L.A. Police Foundation to purchase and install the plate readers from Flock Safety. Kane said the neighborhood chose to work with the tech company because of its “stellar” reputation.

Flock created a national search network for law enforcement agencies that “want to verify a specific license plate’s location,” allowing agencies to access local and national data.

L.A. City Council member Katy Yaroslavsky, who represents District 5, which includes the Cheviot Hills neighborhood, facilitated the transfer of funds.

Some communities in the San Fernando Valley and West L.A. already have license plate readers.

What about LAPD’s data?

When asked by the L.A. Police Commission about the department’s data sharing policies, Commander Randy Goddard said data isn’t shared with any federal agents, especially ICE, based on state law and the department’s policy.

LAPD shares this kind of data with only five other agencies, according to Goddard. Those agencies include the Huntington Park, La Mesa, West Covina and Livermore police departments, and the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department.

“Any agency in the state of California is still under the umbrella of the law,” Goddard said. “Every agency is held to the same standard that they cannot share ALPR data or resources for immigration purposes.”

Officers are required to log the reason for a search any time they look for ALPR information.

The LAPD did not respond to LAist’s requests for comment on reports that the department illegally shared license plate reader data with ICE and Customs and Border Protection.

What about privacy concerns?

License plate readers have long been criticized over privacy concerns. The ACLU reported in 2019 that it discovered through a public records request that law enforcement agencies were sharing plate information with ICE. The organization called for community ordinances that required transparency and oversight of this technology.

“ICE has long embraced technology to target immigrants. Now it’s taking surveillance to an unprecedented level to target vulnerable communities — and sweeping up everyone else in the process,” the ACLU wrote.

Matthew Guariglia, senior policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said ALPRs don’t only track criminals — they track everyone. A license plate number links to your registration, which links to your DMV file, which has your photo and home address, he said.

“There are always ways that companies want to expand the information that police can learn just from scanning a single license plate,” Guariglia said. “So your online profile, your name, links to your social media accounts, all of these things can be very easily linked to an identity created and triggered by scanning your license plate number.”

In this day and age, he said, it’s hard to know what will or won’t be considered illegal. For example, the license plate reader data can be accessed to target protestors whose views combat those of the federal government, Guariglia added.

“Suddenly, something you thought was a First Amendment protected activity now lands you under scrutiny of police,” Guariglia said. “And suddenly that license plate reader data, which you thought was so innocuous, is a lot less innocuous.”

Police are not above breaking the law, Guariglia said.

“It's hard when you have police departments that are so untransparent, where you don't know what's happening behind the scenes," Guariglia said. "It's very easy for them to defy exactly what they've been ordered not to do."