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Clutching pearls over License Plate Readers

At least ten Peninsula cities and the Sheriff’s department have installed Flock license plate readers, including ours. The recent report in the Daily Post that several federal agencies were able to access Mountain View’s plate data has that city council and Woodside’s council “unnerved”. It makes for a good headline, but when you read the actual piece, it appears that ATF, GSA and two Air Force bases were able to access photos due to a configuration error by Mountain View.

I don’t know about GSA or the USAF, but if ATF was looking for a particular plate I for one would like them to have that ability. The Mountain View PD and, I’m sure others, told their council they would have strict privacy protocols in place to prevent access, but what privacy does a vehicle have on public streets? Reading the pearl clutching headlines brought back vivid memories of our own B’game incident that used LPRs to find an attempted kidnapping suspect who tried to grab a woman a couple blocks from my house. You can remind yourself here, but the snippet from November 2024 noted

The victim screamed for help as another vehicle passed which startled the suspect, causing him to flee the scene. A nearby witness heard the commotion and observed the suspect’s vehicle speeding away. This witness was able to provide a partial license plate number. Further investigation utilizing local Automated License Plate Reader cameras yielded photographs of the suspect vehicle and a complete license plate.

The suspect was arrested in Belmont four hours later. Last week in San Jose

A man who recently tried to rob a San Jose bank by handing the teller a handwritten note demanding money was arrested within an hour, authorities said. Police said victims and witnesses provided officers with descriptions of a suspect and potential vehicle, and within about seven minutes of the initial call, officers in the SJPD Real Time Intelligence Center found the car and were getting updates through the city’s system of surveillance cameras.

I’m often disappointed at how slowly the Wheels of Justice turn after an arrest. Some cases that look open-and-shut take years. Let’s not gum up the Wheels on our streets at the arrest phase. If a city wants to tighten access security by outside agencies, just get the configuration right.

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10 responses to “Clutching pearls over License Plate Readers”

  1. Handle Bard

    If Mountain View and the Santa Clara county sheriff disable their cameras shouldn’t we let them know that we won’t be sharing any of our camera data with them when they really need it? Like when some cyclist gets hit by a car that takes off.

  2. Burlingame Resident

    Cases in other parts of the country have declared that the data collected by these cameras is a public record so obtainable via freedom of information requests. This has not been tested in courts in California yet but there is no reason to think rulings here are any different. Bottom line: anyone can request to know when you passed any of these readers.

  3. Amazing

    Mostly aggregated, non-identifiable data, or information regarding the location/number of scans (without specific plate data), may be available for public transparency.

  4. Joe

    The Financial Times added some much-needed context to this LPR discussion this week by noting that Flock has 6,000 law enforcement customers. A grand total of 53 in 20 states have deactivated or rejected the cameras. (that’s 0.88%).

    And Richmond has apparently learned it’s lesson the hard way per the Merc:

    RICHMOND — Driven by public safety concerns, automatic license plate readers will be turned back on in Richmond, months after they were shut down over privacy risks.

    In addition to turning the cameras back on, a 4-3 vote by the City Council on Tuesday extended the city’s contract with Flock Safety, one of the largest surveillance technology companies in the nation, through the end of the year.

    Police Chief Tim Simmons said he shut down the license plate reader system in mid-November after learning a national lookup feature allowed any agency using the Flock system to access a city’s data by searching a full license plate number.

    Simmons said he’s held numerous meetings with Flock leadership, and negotiated new contract terms he believes will provide additional safeguards against improper access.

    In addition to disabling its national lookup feature for all of California and prohibiting the formation of data sharing relationships between agencies inside and out of the state, Simmons said the company has also agreed to pay a $290,000 fee for any unauthorized data disclosures.

    https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/03/18/richmond-extends-flock-contract-agrees-to-turn-cameras-back-on/

    Apparently, vehicle theft numbers jumped dramatically.

  5. Joe

    We need to keep track of successes so that the pearl-clutchers don’t mess things up. Per the DJ yesterday:

    San Mateo police assisted a group that aims to catch child predators by acting as minor decoys with an arrest of a previously convicted sex offender Sunday morning.

    The group wished to remain anonymous, but notified the police department they were engaging with a man through a decoy under the ruse of proposed sexual activity. Plans were solidified and the man agreed to meet a decoy in San Mateo.

    Using the suspect’s phone number and open-source data, the organization was able to provide identifying information on the man, who police determined was James Carey, 43, of Pleasant Hill.

    Police located a vehicle registered to him and used the automated license plate reader database to determine Carey was in fact en route to San Mateo from the East Bay. Police located his vehicle while he continued inside the mall. Earlier, Carey had sent a picture of himself to the decoy, so we were able to use that to further confirm his identity.
    —————–
    One has to assume “the mall” is Hillsdale mall.

  6. Joe

    The Daily Post happened to add a bit of non-news to the LPR story in Menlo Park. MP has 32 of the 35 approved cameras up and running. Chief Dave Norris reported to council that “the system had ‘zero misuse’ in 2025” after access parameters were adjusted.

  7. Joe

    It’s important to keep reminding people of how effective these plate readers are when looking for Big Criminals. From the SF Comicle today:

    A woman who was shot in the back of the head in an alleged Napa County road rage attack over Memorial Day weekend was identified by her family as Meagan Stasko, according to a fundraiser organized to help pay for her recovery.

    The shooting was part of a violent multi-county investigation that began earlier morning in Lake County, where authorities later found a woman dead at a Kelseyville Riviera home tied to the same suspect.
    ———-
    Wait for it
    ———-
    According to the fundraiser, Stasko was attacked by a driver who repeatedly rammed her vehicle before shooting her. Detectives used Flock Safety license plate cameras to identify the suspect’s vehicle, which was later spotted southbound on Highway 29 near Zinfandel Lane, according to the Napa County Sheriff’s Office.

  8. Joe

    Here is this week’s reminder courtesy of the SF Comicle:

    Two Petaluma residents have been arrested in connection with a hit-and-run crash that injured two children riding an electric scooter in Rohnert Park, authorities said Monday. One of the juveniles was released from the hospital, while the other remains in intensive care with major injuries, police said Monday.

    Detectives identified McCullough and Smith using the department’s Flock automated license plate reader system.

    Officers located Smith in Petaluma and took her into custody on May 31. She was booked into the Sonoma County jail on suspicion of felony hit-and-run causing injury. Her bail was set at $25,000. Detectives identified McCullough and Smith using the department’s Flock automated license plate reader system.
    ————————————
    And don’t get me started on how someone does a hit and run resulting in a kid being in the ICU but bail is only $25K.

  9. Joe

    Here is today’s installment:

    Reed is now facing two counts of attempted murder and other felony charges in connection with the Sunday night shooting, according to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.

    The incident began around 10:30 p.m. Sunday when a Flock camera on the Bay Bridge picked up a 2021 Gray Toyota that authorities believe was involved in the armed robbery of a delivery truck in Hayward three days earlier.

    Officer Brittney Taylor (the one that was shot) and her partner, Officer Dexter Cato, spotted the Toyota near Fifth and Folsom streets and tried to stop it near Mission and First streets, according to court records. Taylor and Cato got out of their patrol car and told Reed, the driver, to stop, roll down the window and drop his keys outside the car, court documents show.

    Reed refused and fled northbound on Fremont Street going around 40 mph, with Taylor and two other police cars in pursuit with lights and sirens activated, prosecutors said. The Toyota reached 60 mph as Reed fled south through city streets until crashing with a concrete barrier at the Bayshore Boulevard on-ramp to Highway 101, police said.

  10. Joe

    New week, new LPR success story. From the Chron:

    San Jose police arrested a man suspected of stealing more than $50,000 worth of vehicle charging equipment from the parking lot of a business.

    Michael Haverman, 53, was booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail on suspicion of grand theft and felony vandalism for incidents in March and May, the San Jose Police Department said Friday.

    Using surveillance footage, including license plate readers, officers located Haverman in San Jose and arrested him on May 21, police said.

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