September 22, 2026
City Council
DATE: September 22, 2026
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM: Councilmember Claudia Jimenez (Sponsor)
Councilmember Sue Wilson (co-sponsor)
Vice Mayor Doria Robinson (co-sponsor)
Subject: Presentation from Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and conducting data analysis regarding the effectiveness of LPR technology
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact for receiving this itme.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
None.
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
The City Council needs objective, data-driven information to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of license plate readers (LPRs) as a public safety tool. A presentation
from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) would
provide Council with an important perspective on the
impacts of these systems, and an objective statistical
analysis of local crime statistics would fairly evalute the effectiveness of LPR technology in reducing and solving crime in Richmond.
Providing Council with this information will help ensure that future decisions regarding the use, expansion, or
oversight of LPR technology are informed by measurable
outcomes, available evidence, and a clear understanding of both public safety benefits and community impacts.
AGENDA
REPORT
September 22, 2026
RECOMMENDED ACTION: DIRECT staff to: 1) coordinate a presentation by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) at a future City
Council meeting regarding the effectiveness, limitations, and impacts of license plate reader (LPR) technology, as well as to 2) bring objective statistical analysis of
Richmond data regarding the effectiveness of LPRs in
reducing crime, recovering stolen vehicles, supporting
criminal investigations, and making arrests that lead to conviction, as well as information regarding data
retention and information sharing for any LPR systems
under consideration - Councilmember Claudia Jimenez
(510-620-6593)/Councilmember Sue Wilson (510-609-
2111)/Vice Mayor Doria Robinson (510-672-1387).
DISCUSSION:
License plate readers (LPRs) have become an increasingly common public safety tool used by law enforcement agencies to identify vehicles associated with criminal investigations and to assist in locating stolen vehicles. As the City considers the continued use, expansion, or oversight of this technology, it is important that the City Council have objective information about whether LPRs are achieving their intended public safety outcomes and whether any benefits outweigh the risk of misuse of these technologies now or in the future.
To make a good decision, the Council needs a presentation from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which has already provided the El Cerrito City Council with its evidence-based perspective on LPR technology.
In addition, the city should conduct a statistical analysis using our own recent data to demonstrate whether and to what extent LPRs contribute to reducing crime, recovering stolen vehicles, supporting criminal investigations, and increasing arrests that lead to conviction here in Richmond.
This information is important because the Council is responsible for making policy and budget decisions concerning public safety resources and technology. Council should have access to 1) multiple perspectives on security and privacy risks and 2) objective measurable data about the effectiveness of this technology. Council should not rely solely on the anecdotal examples of individual cases, selective non-representative statistics, and generalized claims regarding the effectiveness of LPRs being offered by the companies trying to sell systems to the city.
September 22, 2026
The goal of this presentation is not to predetermine the Council's position on LPRs, but to provide Council with additional information necessary to fully and fairly evaluate the technology and make informed decisions regarding its future use in the City.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
None.