Policy Alameda Police Department
462 Alameda Police Department Policy Manual
Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs)
462.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE
The purpose of this policy is to establish guidelines for officers utilizing the Automated License
Plate Reader (ALPR) system. This policy will further establish guidelines for the deployment and
actions permissible when using the system. The policy shall remain in effect until it is superseded,
amended, or withdrawn.
(a) An ALPR system is a computer-based system that utilizes special cameras to capture license
plate information. The ALPR system captures an infrared image of a license plate and converts
it to a text file using Optical Character Recognition (“OCR”) technology. The text is compared to
various hot lists generated by local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, including the
National Crime Information Center (“NCIC”), and generates an alert when there is a hit. The ALPR
system identifies license plates and will not identify the person operating the motor vehicle. The
Department may, as a separate step and for legitimate law enforcement purposes per the Federal
Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, and as set forth in this Policy, undertake to identify the owner of
a vehicle in the event the ALPR system generates an alert, such as by running the license plate
number through the State of California Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) database.
(b) It shall be the policy of this Agency that all Department members abide by the policy and
its procedures set forth when using the ALPR system, thereby increasing the efficiency and
effectiveness of its public safety efforts in a manner that safeguards the privacy concerns
of law abiding citizens.
(c) The ALPR system shall be restricted to legitimate law enforcement uses for the purpose of
furthering legitimate law enforcement goals and enhancing public safety. Such uses and goals
include, but are not limited to, 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 or
unregistered motor vehicles.
(d) The Department shall utilize hot lists which further the above specified goals of the ALPR
system, where there is a legitimate and specific law enforcement reason for identifying a vehicle
associated with an outstanding arrest warrant, vehicles related to missing persons investigations,
vehicles associated with AMBER Alerts, stolen vehicles, vehicles that are reasonably believed
to be involved in the commission of a crime, vehicles which are registered to or are reasonably
believed to be operated by persons who do not have a valid operator’s license or who are on the
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Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs)
revoked or suspended list, vehicles with expired registrations, vehicles registered to persons who
are subject to a restraining order issued by a court or by the Parole Board, or who are subject to
any other duly issued order restricting their movements, vehicles registered to persons wanted by
a law enforcement agency who are of interest in a specific investigation, or vehicles registered to
persons who are on any watch list issued by a State or Federal agency responsible for homeland
security when information has been received concerning a specific individual.
462.2 DEFINITIONS
ALPR – Automated License Plate Recognition System, or Automated License Plate Reader
ALPR System – The system in its entirety, including all ALPR cameras, software, and collected
data
Alert – An audible and/or visual signal activated upon the read of a license plate by the ALPR
system that has NOT BEEN VISUALLY VERIFIED by the officer against the photo in the ALPR
system.
Tentative Hit – An alert by the ALPR system that HAS BEEN VISUALLY VERIFIED by the officer
against the ALPR hotlist and photo but HAS NOT BEEN VALIDATED by the officer or dispatch
as a live query transaction OR CONFIRMED AS VALID with the original entering agency.
Live Query Transaction – A hit by the ALPR system that HAS BEEN VALIDATED as active but
HAS NOT BEEN CONFIRMED as valid by the entering agency.
Confirmation (Confirmed Hit) – A hit by the ALPR system that HAS BEEN CONFIRMED as valid
and active by the original entering agency through secondary check.
Hotlist – Data files extracted from law enforcement databases which contain listings of stolen
license plates, stolen vehicles, wanted persons, and other vehicles/persons actively being sought
by a law enforcement agency such as Amber/Silver Alert vehicles/persons. These data extracts
are generally facilitated numerous times per day in an effort to provide current data.
462.3 PROCEDURES
(a) Management
The Alameda Police Department, by and through the Chief of Police, is solely responsible for
the day-to-day operation and management of the ALPR system and for all tasks ancillary to its
operation and management. The Chief of Police shall assign Department personnel to operate
and manage the ALPR system on a day-to-day basis.
The Chief of Police, through his or her designee, shall ensure that the ALPR system is operated in
conformity with this Policy and other Department policies, procedures, rules and regulations. The
Chief shall enforce this Policy and shall act as the Department Head for all disciplinary and
enforcement actions for any violations by Department personnel.
(b) Operations
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Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs)
- Installation and Functioning. ALPR cameras may be mounted on a marked cruiser or unmarked
vehicle. ALPR equipment will passively read the license plates of moving or parked motor vehicles
using ALPR optical character recognition technology and compare them against various hot
lists uploaded or created by the Alameda Police Department. Scanned data files collected by
the system will, on an ongoing basis, be automatically uploaded from the ALPR camera to the
Department’s ALPR database.
- Hot Lists. Designation of hot lists to be utilized by the ALPR system shall be made by the Chief
or his/her designee. Hot lists shall be obtained or compiled from sources as may be consistent
with the purposes of the ALPR system set forth in this Policy. These sources may include:
· NCIC Stolen Vehicle files, as available;
· NCIC Stolen plates and Stolen Canadian plates, as available;
· NCIC Wanted persons, as available;
· NCIC Missing or Endangered person files, as available;
· NCIC Supervised Release (Federal Probationers), as available;
· NCIC Nationwide Domestic Violence Protection Orders, as available;
· NCIC Violent Gang and Terrorist Organization File, as available;
· NCIC Sexual Offender;
· DMV Records of Suspended/Revoked Registrations.
- Training. No member of this Department shall operate ALPR equipment or access ALPR
data without first completing Department-approved training.
- Login/Log-Out Procedure. To ensure proper operation and facilitate oversight of the ALPR
system, all users will be required to have individual credentials for access and use of the systems
and/or data. A routine check to ensure the equipment is working properly should be done at the
beginning of each shift by the user logging into the system.
- Auditing and Oversight. To ensure proper oversight into the use of the system and adherence
to this policy, all activities (plate detections, queries, reports, etc.) are automatically recorded
by the system for auditing purposes. System audits shall be conducted by the Inspectional
Services Section supervisor at least every six months during the first two years subsequent to
implementation and no less than annually thereafter. The audit report shall include an explanation
regarding any data retained longer than six months (e.g. data retained as evidence in a criminal
case).
- Permitted/Impermissible Uses. The ALPR system, and all data collected, is the property of the
Alameda Police Department. Department personnel may only access and use the ALPR system
for official and legitimate law enforcement purposes consistent with this Policy.
The following uses of the ALPR system are specifically prohibited:
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Alameda Police Department Policy Manual
Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs)
a. Invasion of Privacy: Except when done pursuant to a court order such as a search warrant, it
is a violation of this Policy to utilize the ALPR to record license plates except those of vehicles that
are exposed to public view (e.g., vehicles on a public road or street, or that are on private property
but whose license plate(s) are visible from a public road, street, or a place to which members of
the public have access, such as the parking lot of a shop or other business establishment).
b. Harassment or Intimidation: It is a violation of this Policy to use the ALPR system to harass
and/or intimidate any individual or group.
c. Personal Use: It is a violation of this Policy to use the ALPR system or associated scan files
or hot lists for any personal purpose.
Anyone who engages in an impermissible use of the ALPR system or associated scan files or
hot lists may be subject to:
· criminal prosecution,
· civil liability, and/or
· administrative sanctions, up to and including termination, pursuant to and consistent with
the relevant collective bargaining agreements and Department policies.
7. Required Steps Preliminary to Police Action. Hot lists utilized by the Department’s ALPR
system may be updated by agency sources more frequently than the Department may be
uploading them, and the Department’s ALPR system will not have access to real time data. Further,
there may be errors in the ALPR’s read of a license plate. Therefore, an alert alone shall not be
a basis for police action (other than following the vehicle of interest). Prior to initiation of a stop
of a vehicle or other intervention based on an alert, an officer shall undertake the following:
a. Verification of current status on hot list. An officer must receive confirmation, from someone
or some system within the Department that the license plate is still stolen, wanted, or otherwise
of interest before proceeding.
b. Visual verification of license plate number. Officers shall visually verify that the license plate
on the vehicle of interest matches identically with the image of the license plate number captured
(read) by the ALPR, including both the alphanumeric characters of the license plate and the state
of issue, before proceeding with a traffic stop.
8. Use in Connection With Serious Crimes/Incidents. Use of the ALPR should be considered
to conduct license plate canvasses in the immediate wake of any homicide, shooting, robbery,
kidnapping, sexual assault or AMBER ALERT, or other major crime or incident.
(c) Database Access and Privacy Concerns
- The ALPR system database and software resides in a data center featuring full redundancy and
access controls. The data remains property of the Alameda Police Department, and is managed
according to this Policy.
- The ALPR system is governed by the Permitted/Impermissible Uses as outlined in this Policy.
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Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs)
- The ALPR data contains no Personally Identifiable Information (PII) that may be used to connect
license plate detection to an individual. It is only with permissible purpose that an investigator may
make this connection (using other systems) and this access is already governed by the Federal
Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA).
- All investigative queries into collected ALPR data are logged by user and available for auditing
and review by the Department as outlined in this Policy.
(d) Data Retention
All data and images gathered by an ALPR are for the official use of the Alameda Police Department
and because such data may contain confidential CLETS information, it is not open to public
review. ALPR information gathered and retained by this Department may be used and shared with
prosecutors or others only as permitted by law. All ALPR data downloaded to the server will be
stored for a period of six months, and thereafter shall be purged unless it has become, or it is
reasonable to believe it will become, evidence in a criminal or civil action or is subject to a lawful
action to produce records. In those circumstances, the applicable data should be downloaded
from the server onto portable media and booked into evidence.
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