CITY OF PACIFICA
COUNCIL AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT
9/9/2024
1 SUBJECT:
Automated License Plate Reader Technology to Enhance Public Safety in the City of Pacifica.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Pacifica authorizing the City Manager to implement the Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) program and execute the agreements with Flock Safety for ALPR technology and Axon Enterprises to activate ALPR capacity on existing hardware.
STAFF CONTACT:
Eric Martinez, Police Corporal
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> (650) 738-7314
Bill Glasgo, Police Captain
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> (650) 738-7314
Maria Sarasua, Police Chief
[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>
(650) 738-7314
BACKGROUND:
For over 25 years, public safety agencies have utilized Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology to rapidly identify and locate vehicles for official law enforcement purposes.
Legitimate law enforcement uses of ALPR technology include providing information to officers that will assist in on-going criminal investigations, crime prevention, crime detection, the apprehension of wanted persons, ensuring the safety of vulnerable individuals through the recovery of missing and endangered persons, and improving the quality of life in our community through the identification and removal of stolen vehicles.
The cameras, which can be fixed (e.g., mounted on road signs or traffic lights) or mobile (i.e., mounted on a vehicle), capture an image of a vehicle and the vehicle’s license plate, and compare the alphanumeric characters with law enforcement databases (hot lists). The lists contain the license plate numbers and letters of vehicles associated with active investigations such as Amber/Ebony/Silver Alerts or other missing persons, stolen vehicles, or criminal offenses. When a match is found, a real-time alert is generated, notifying police of the location where the image of the wanted vehicle was captured.
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The stored license plate data also provides police investigators with a pointer system to identify vehicles associated with suspects, witnesses, or victims, and to develop exculpatory information that assists them with focusing their investigative resources. The data also allows police to connect serial criminal activities occurring in other jurisdictions.
All cities in San Mateo County are authorized by their governing body to acquire and utilize ALPR technology except for Pacifica and East Palo Alto. Anecdotally, these jurisdictions credit ALPR technology with a marked increase in the recovery of stolen vehicles and report investigative success stories attributable to ALPR data. Outreach to California agencies yielded hundreds of recent examples of criminal actors intercepted, crimes solved, and public welfare issues handled safely.
South San Francisco implemented ALPRs in 2022 and reported a 12% reduction in vehicle burglaries, a 12% reduction in stolen vehicles, a 43% reduction in commercial burglaries, and a 62% reduction in catalytic converter thefts. Following implementation, Foster City saw property crime drop over 28% in the first year, and another percentage point in the second year. They also saw a 13% drop in overall crime in the first year after implementation, and a 12% further reduction in overall crime in the second year.
While each city and public safety agency in San Mateo County has notable ALPR success stories, the following are recent examples of how other agency’s ALPR technology has helped the City of Pacifica:
August 26, 2024 - Suicidal Missing Person
A woman called Pacifica Police Department to report her husband was experiencing an acute mental health crisis and texted threats of suicide to family members and friends. A cell phone ping revealed the husband was in the Monterey Area. We contacted the Monterey Police Department who accessed their FLOCK ALPR system and officers were able to immediately locate the husband and get him the psychiatric care he needed.
December 21, 2023 - Homicide/Domestic Violence
Pacifica Police Officers responded to a domestic violence homicide at a residence. The armed suspect fled on foot resulting in the lockdown of a nearby elementary school and a “shelter in place” of nearby homes. Approximately one hour later, a sergeant with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office entered the suspect’s license plate into the ALPR system and informed the incident commander that the suspect vehicle was on the Bay Bridge. A series of ALPR alerts led CHP to ultimately locate the suspect in Ukiah.
Due to budgetary constraints, the Pacifica Police Department is an understaffed and under resourced police agency. To mitigate the lack of high visibility presence of officers, ALPR technology will increase operational efficiency by serving as a force multiplier to deter and reduce crime without infringing upon the privacy rights of our community.
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DISCUSSION:
Crime Analysis
Recent years have seen regional increases in catalytic converter thefts, auto burglaries, vehicle thefts and organized retail thefts. According to data from the Public Policy Institute of California, between 2019-2022, San Mateo County had a 53% spike in retail theft, making it the largest increase out of the state’s 15 largest counties. During the same period, Pacifica had 2364 reported property crimes. In 2023, Pacifica had 455 property crimes which reveals an ongoing trend in catalytic converter thefts, auto burglaries, vehicle thefts, and retail theft. Furthermore, our community experienced a brazen homicide and 56 robberies/aggravated assaults in 2023.
Those responsible for such crimes commonly use a vehicle to travel to and flee from the crime scene. Moreover, they often engage in criminal offenses involving multiple jurisdictions, and commonly arrive in a stolen vehicle, a vehicle bearing stolen plates, or a vehicle that law enforcement has previously connected to verified criminal activity. Identifying such vehicles, via fixed and mobile ALPR cameras, as they enter Pacifica will provide the police department an opportunity to intervene before additional crimes are committed, and potentially apprehend wanted persons or recover stolen property. ALPR data also provides investigators with an additional technique to identify and apprehend offenders after a crime already occurred.
Purpose and Scope
Real-Time Alerts: Real-time ALPR alerts notify police of the presence of a wanted or stolen vehicle and allow officers to respond to the area to search for the vehicle. If officers locate the vehicle, prior to making an enforcement stop, they visually confirm the plate number and manually check it against law enforcement databases to confirm the accuracy of the ALPR information and the legal justification for the stop.
Deterrence: Even if officers are unable to locate and stop the vehicle in question, suspects may see the police response and be deterred from further criminal activity. Moreover, the mere presence of the fixed ALPR cameras may act as a deterrent. Police personnel have reported to staff that some criminals will intentionally target jurisdictions without ALPR technology and avoid those where it is in use.
Solving Crimes Already Committed: Generally, by the time a crime is reported to police, the suspects have already fled the area, and it is the job of police to identify and locate the suspects later. While victims and witnesses can often provide a description of the vehicle used by a suspect, those descriptions are frequently incomplete (e.g., a partial license plate number, vehicle type and color only) or consist of a license plate number that corresponds to a stolen vehicle or a stolen plate. Investigators can turn incomplete information into actionable leads by querying the ALPR database. Existing DMV databases do not offer this capability.
Regional Coordination: ALPR data sharing among local law enforcement partners allows agencies to collaboratively investigate, identify and apprehend multi-jurisdictional offenders, or those who commit crimes in one jurisdiction but reside in another. For example, in the case of Pacifica City Council 4
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organized retail thieves, ALPR data sharing may allow investigators to connect multiple cases across disparate jurisdictions, share evidence, and obtain the best prosecutorial outcomes.
Expanded Searchable Data Set: Private entities (e.g., shopping centers, individual retailers, HOAs) utilizing ALPR cameras can share their data with local law enforcement, to include realtime alerts. This is a one-way share. In other words, an entity that shares its ALPR data with law enforcement does not gain access to law enforcement data in return. The investigative usefulness of an ALPR system is greatly enhanced as its searchable data set increases, whether from other California law enforcement contributors or private entities.
Unlike red-light cameras, ALPR cameras do not have illumination to aid in identifying the driver or potential passengers of the vehicle. The purpose of ALPR technology is to identify vehicles, not the occupants. ALPR systems are not designed to collect images of drivers or vehicle occupants, nor are they integrated with facial recognition solutions or any applications that simultaneously identify the registered owner or passengers.
The ALPR camera does not identify any individual or access their personal information through its analysis of license plate numbers. The data captured by the ALPR system is completely anonymous. There is no personally identifiable information (PII) contained in an ALPR record and the authorized user can only determine the registered owner of a vehicle by querying a separate law enforcement DMV database of vehicle license plate records, which is restricted, controlled, and audited.
ALPR systems do not provide constant surveillance of a vehicle’s location. The systems do provide authorized police personnel with a pointer for one moment in time and the location where a vehicle's license plate passed an ALPR device.
Civil Liberty Considerations
Some organizations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), have generally expressed concerns about the use of ALPR technology, specifically on the aspects of data access, storage, retention, sharing, and reporting. The Pacifica Police Department’s ALPR Policy (PPD Policy 435) is responsive, in whole or in part, to each of these concerns and the ACLU’s ALPR guidelines. The police department’s ALPR Policy is included in its entirety as an attachment to this report. Some excerpts from the police department’s ALPR Policy are included below for ease of reference.
Data Accessibility: Data will only be accessible to trained staff with a legitimate law enforcement need, and all queries will be logged and subject to quarterly audits, both internally and through the Department of Justice. Flock Safety and Axon have adopted a usage and privacy policy consistent with California Civil Code §1798.90.5, et seq. By the terms of the proposed contract with the City, Flock Safety and Axon are required to observe specific data security protocols, including restricting data access only to that which is necessary for system maintenance, logging all access by its employees, conducting quarterly compliance audits, and permitting the City to review these audits logs.
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Data Storage: The police department holds privacy and data security in the highest regard. The only data captured by ALPR cameras would be license plate, date, time, location, and vehicle make and color. This data is transmitted in an end-to-end encrypted format consistent with Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) protocols. The department owns all encrypted ALPR data and will access the data via a web-based cloud platform.
Flock Safety: Data from Flock Safety devices is stored and then deleted after 30 days for privacy and security purposes. All images and metadata are encrypted from ondevice to storage in the cloud. Flock Safety uses Amazon Web Services cloud storage and KMS-based encryption, limiting access to the encryption keys. All CJIS data is stored in the AWS GovCloud and is only available to Law Enforcement agencies. No CJIS data is shared with non-Law Enforcement Flock Safety Customers. Flock Safety reports no breaches to their cloud-based storage.
Axon Evidence: Data from Axon Fleet 3 systems is stored and then deleted after 30 days for privacy and security purposes. All images and metadata are uploaded to Axon Evidence, a secure, encrypted, CJIS compliant, cloud-based storage for ALPR data with customizable permissions for accessibility and sharing and set retention periods. Axon reports no breaches to their cloud-based storage.
The City and the Police Department have distinct policy and law regarding any potential breaches, in compliance with federal, state, and local standards. This is addressed in both US Government Code and CA Civil Code as well as police department policy.
Data Retention: While many local law enforcement agencies retain ALPR data for one year and often longer, the department believes that a retention period of thirty (30) days will adequately support its investigative needs. Only data which has been identified as relevant to a specific criminal investigation will be retained longer.
Data Sharing: ALPR data sharing among local law enforcement partners allows agencies to collaboratively investigate, identify and apprehend multi-jurisdictional offenders, or those who commit crimes in one jurisdiction but reside in another. Whereas some law enforcement agencies share data with federal and out of state law enforcement agencies, the Pacifica Police Department will only share its ALPR data with California law enforcement agencies. California law enforcement agencies will be granted access with whom an MOU is in place, or a signed Data Sharing Acknowledgement Letter to ensure the access is for legitimate law enforcement purposes by authorized/trained personnel in compliance with Pacifica Police Department ALPR policy and procedures.
The Pacifica Police Department does not permit the sharing of ALPR data for the purpose of federal immigration enforcement, pursuant to the California Values Act (Government Code § 7282.5; Government Code § 7284.2 et seq). Furthermore, the police department does not permit the sharing of ALPR data for the purpose of prosecuting, investigating, or initiating any legal proceeding against any person traveling to California to receive reproductive care or gender affirming treatment. Data collected by Flock Safety and Axon is owned by the Pacifica Police Department and will never be sold or shared to any private or non-law enforcement entities.
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To promote the ethical use of ALPR technology in Pacifica, the police department will provide a public-facing dashboard to share policies, acceptable and prohibited usage, external agencies with access, public search audit and public safety outcomes related to ALPR technology. We are committed to promoting transparency and accountability in the use of all public safety technology to build trust while creating a safer community.
ALPR Cameras
To derive maximum benefit with the fewest cameras needed, fixed ALPR cameras are generally placed at strategically selected locations based on several factors: crime statistics, common vehicular ingress and egress points, and traffic volume. To ensure that cameras are not disproportionately deployed in any neighborhood or community, crime mapping or “hot spots” were not utilized to select camera locations. The police department relied solely on the traffic count summaries included in the 2022/23 Engineering and Traffic Survey, conducted by DKS Associates, to identify ten (10) intersections with the highest traffic volume.
The ALPR program will include ten (10) fixed ALPR devices provided by Flock Safety, and the activation of the ALPR capabilities of our existing Axon Fleet 3 dash cameras in thirteen (13) police department vehicles. Both systems integrate and play a pivotal role in early notification and prevention of criminal activity in Pacifica. Hotlists are updated every thirty (30) minutes (agency-generated) and every six (6) hours for NCIC (National Crime Information Center).
ALPR cameras will collect license plate information from vehicles on public roadways, public property, and vehicles within public view. As the ALPR devices are a police department investigative tool, we do not provide the locations of the fixed cameras. If subjects engaged in violent and/or serial criminal activities are made aware of the location of the ALPR units, they could take measures to avoid detection.
Our current Axon Fleet 3 dash camera systems record activity through the windshield of equipped vehicles during emergency responses or officer activity. The cameras can act as a mobile ALPR system with a 90% or greater accuracy rating. Unlike traditional ALPR systems, the Fleet 3 front camera is inside the vehicle and behind the windshield, protected from harsh weather conditions. The Dual-View camera is not IR-illuminated and will accurately read plates in low light and nighttime conditions. Activating ALPR on these existing cameras will support immediate notification to the officers in-car computer. An added benefit is the automation of license plate inquiries, reducing the need for manual input by the officer during critical incident investigations.
Members should not take any police action that restricts the freedom of any individual based solely on an ALPR alert unless it has been validated or unless exigent circumstances exist.
Officers should attempt to visually verify the license plate matches the license plate captured by the ALPR system and verify the status on the hot list through a law enforcement official or system such as the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS), before taking enforcement action based solely on an ALPR alert.
Stakeholder Engagement
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When deciding whether to employ ALPR technology in Pacifica, the police department conducted extensive background research and hosted listening sessions with a diverse crosssection of the community. These groups included Pacifica Social Justice, Chief’s Advisory Panel, Jefferson Unified School District, Pacifica Unified School District, Community Police Academy participants, and the Pacifica Chamber of Commerce. In August, the department hosted “Coffee with a Cop” at Linda Mar Starbucks and visited numerous parties during National Night Out to engage in conversation with the community about ALPR technology.
The department also consulted with neighboring public safety agencies and representatives from the California Police Chiefs Association and the International Association of Chiefs of Police to learn about best practice for the deployment and oversight of ALPR technology.
Police department staff also reviewed literature from the Policing Project at NYU School of Law, ACLU’s 2022 White Paper on Flock, ACLU’s 2016 publication “Making Smart Decisions About Surveillance,” and ALPR information bulletins from the California Department of Justice as it pertains to SB34 guidelines. The police department was responsive to the policy suggestions included in correspondence from the ACLU Northern California and ACLU Mid-Peninsula chapters to the Half Moon Bay Police Chief and City Manager.
Contractual Cost
The addition of fixed and mobile ALPR cameras provides the City with a cost-effective force multiplier that helps direct officers to where crimes are occurring and provides invaluable investigative leads following a crime. In other words, the police department anticipates potential cost-savings related to staffing that may be offset using ALPR technology and incalculable benefits to members of the community by increasing the efficiency of criminal investigations and reducing investigative time.
On June 24, 2024, City Council adopted the FY 24/25 operating budget. The adopted budget included an increase to the Police Department’s budget in the amount of $45,000 annually to fund the purchase of ALPR technology. The ALPR technology updates will require a 2-year agreement with Flock for ten (10) fixed ALPR Flock cameras throughout the City and a 5- year agreement with Axon Inc. to activate existing in-car ALPR cameras.
The contract with Flock will cost $34,000 for the first year and $30,000 for subsequent annual renewals.
Table 1: Flock Safety Costs
Item Cost
Flock Safety Platform $30,000.00
One-Time Fee for Professional Services $4,000.00
Total First Year $34,000.00
Total Second Year $30,000.00
Combined Two-Year Total $64,000.00
The contract with Axon will cost $8,819.54 annually.
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Table 2: Axon Enterprises Costs
Item Cost
Year 1 License for Axon Fleet 3 Cameras $8,819.53
Year 2 License for Axon Fleet 3 Cameras $8,819.54
Year 3 License for Axon Fleet 3 Cameras $8,819.54
Year 4 License for Axon Fleet 3 Cameras $8,819.54
Year 5 License for Axon Fleet 3 Cameras $8,819.54
Combined Five-Year Total $44,097.69
The combined expenditures for this program are within the City Manager’s purchasing authority and will come from the police department’s contractual services budget. The impact to budget will be $42,819.54 for the first year and $38,819.54 for subsequent years.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION:
The City Council may choose not to adopt the proposed resolutions. However, the expenditures are already budgeted for and delaying the proposed resolutions may increase the costs of both the Axon and Flock Safety contracts.
RELATION TO CITY COUNCIL STRATEGIC GOAL 2: Improve and steward City infrastructure, streets, and facilities.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total cost of the program is already included in the FY 2024-25 Adopted Budget. If any budget modification is required, staff will bring that forward at the mid-year budget review, but no budget amendment is required at this time.
ORIGINATED BY:
Police
City Manager's Office
ATTACHMENT LIST:
ALPR Policy 435 (PDF)
Axon ALPR Contract (PDF)
Flock Safety Contract PPD (PDF)
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RESOLUTION NO. _____
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PACIFICA
AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO IMPLEMENT THE AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE
READER (ALPR) PROGRAM AND EXECUTE AGREEMENTS WITH FLOCK SAFETY FOR
THE PURCHASE OF ALPR TECHNOLOGY AND AXON ENTERPRISES TO ACTIVATE
ALPR CAPACITY ON EXISTING HARDWARE
WHEREAS, the City of Pacifica is committed to enhancing public safety and protecting its residents, businesses, and visitors through the use of modern technologies; and WHEREAS, automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology is a proven tool for law enforcement that allows for the automated detection of license plates from mobile and fixed ALPR cameras; and
WHEREAS, state law restricts access to, use of, and dissemination of information obtained from ALPR systems; and
WHEREAS, the City desires to acquire and use ALPR technology to enhance crime prevention and criminal investigations while complying with state law restrictions related to ALPR systems; and
WHEREAS, the Pacifica Police Department has adopted Pacifica Police Department Policy Manual, Policy 435 to govern the use of ALPR systems and data; and WHEREAS, the City Council approved the FY2024-25 budget to include sufficient funding in the Police Department budget to fund the costs of this purchase.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Pacifica that the City Manager of the City of Pacifica is authorized to implement the ALPR program and execute agreements with Flock Safety for the purchase of ALPR Technology in the amount of $64,000.00 ($34,000 for the first year and $30,000 for the second year), and with Axon Enterprises to activate ALPR capacity on existing hardware in the amount of $44,097.69 ($8,819.53 per year for 5 years). Although these agreements are within the City Manager’s purchasing authority, they are attached hereto as Exhibits A and B.
PASSED AND ADOPTED at a special and regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Pacifica, California, held on the 9
th day of September, 2024, by the following vote:
AYES, Councilmembers:
NOES, Councilmembers:
ABSENT, Councilmembers:
ABSTAIN, Councilmembers:
_________________________________
Sue Vaterlaus, Mayor
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ATTEST: APPROVED AS TO FORM:
______________________________ _________________________________ Sarah Coffey, City Clerk Michelle Kenyon, City Attorney