MEMORANDUM Agenda Item #: 7 Meeting Date: June 14, 2016 TO: THRU: FROM: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL ANTON DAHLERBRUCH, CITY MANAGER /s/ JEFF KEPLEY, POLICE CHIEF /s/ SUBJECT: CONSIDERATION OF A PROPOSED POLICE DEPARTMENT PRIVACY POLICY FOR THE PENINSULA- WIDE AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE RECOGNITION (ALPR) PROJECT DATE: JUNE 14, 2016 ISSUE/PURPOSE Shall the City Council approve the Police Department s privacy policy for data collected by the Peninsula-wide Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) cameras and the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department (PVEPD) mobile ALPR unit? BACKGROUND At its meeting of April 26, 2016, the City Council was presented with the Peninsulawide Automated License Plate Reader Project. The PVEPD has developed a privacy policy for use with the mobile ALPR system. Changes have been made to include the proposed ALPR project and the policy is now being presented to cover both the mobile and fixed ALPR units. This report proposes an ALPR privacy policy governing the data collected by both the proposed ALPR system, and the existing mobile ALPR system, by police personnel including operation, data storage, retention, dissemination, and destruction of data and images. Page 1 of 3
DISCUSSION ALPR technology, also known as License Plate Recognition, provides automated detection of license plates. ALPR data has and will be used by the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department (PVEPD) to convert data associated with vehicle license plates for official law enforcement purposes. This includes identifying stolen or wanted vehicles, stolen license plates and missing persons. ALPRs may also be used to gather information related to active warrants, homeland security, electronic surveillance, suspect interdiction and stolen property recovery. In addition to the above, ALPR data can be an extremely valuable tool for criminal investigations. This data will allow Detectives to identify vehicles that were within a specific crime area during specific times, for possible association to the crime. Police camera systems or data collection devices can generate concerns over the privacy and security of the data collected and questions about public access to the records. To address these concerns, privacy policy mirrors ALPR privacy policies, with minor differences in retention lengths, in use within cities throughout the Los Angeles and Orange County region, and has been reviewed by the City Attorney s office. The use of ALPR s within Palos Verdes Estates will be part of the Peninsula-wide system with the Los Angeles County Sheriff s Department (LASD). While LASD s privacy policy will apply to Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills and Rolling Hills Estates, this proposed policy will only apply to the City of Palos Verdes Estates. Since ALPR data will potentially be shared with LASD, the proposed policy is both compatible and comparable with the LASD s privacy and use policy. The following are some key elements of the City s ALPR privacy policy: Security: To address data protection and security, the vendor s ALPR servers and personnel are compliant with the CA-DOJ Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) security standards. The policy governs use of the system and restricts such use to authorized purposes only, by personnel who are authorized, background checked, and ALPR system trained. Retention: The minimum retention for ALPR data is one-year per existing State law. The City s proposed records retention schedule for ALPR data is two years, which is consistent with other PVEPD audio/video record retention practices. This is less than the five-year retention period established by the Los Angeles County Sheriff s Department but consistent with the City s current practices for the retention of audio/video records. Transparency: Upon adoption of the privacy policy, it will be posted on the City s website, Police Department page for easy public access and in compliance with California Senate Bill 34. The posted policy will apply to both the proposed fixed camera ALPR system as well as the existing mobile ALPR device mounted on a patrol car. Page 2 of 3
Data access/release: ALPR data may be released to other law enforcement or prosecutorial agencies with proper authority and compliance with conditions. However, public records requests will be limited to quantity of license plate images collected within a specified time period, and/or by the quantity of criminal hits received, rather than images or actual license plate numbers. Neither the City nor its vendor will sell or transfer images or data to a third party or private company for marketing or any other purpose. FISCAL IMPACT This policy adoption has no fiscal impact. NOTIFICATION This item was provided notice consistent with the City standard practices and forwarded to the Peninsula cities and LASD partnering in the ALPR project. ALTERNATIVES 1) Approve the ALPR privacy policy in its proposed form. 2) Recommend or require changes to the ALPR privacy policy. 3) Request further information and provide direction to staff. CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council review the ALPR privacy policy and provide direction to staff. ATTACHMENTS: A Proposed ALPR Privacy Policy Page 3 of 3
Attachment A Palos Verdes Estates Police Department Privacy Policy for Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) PURPOSE AND SCOPE Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology, also known as License Plate Recognition, provides automated detection of license plates. ALPRs are used by the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department to convert data associated with vehicle license plates for official law enforcement purposes, including identifying stolen or wanted vehicles, stolen license plates and missing persons. ALPRs may also be used to gather information related to active warrants, homeland security, electronic surveillance, suspect interdiction and stolen property recovery. SUPPORT SERVICES The ALPR technology, also known as License Plate Recognition (LPR), allow for the automated detection of license plates. It is used by the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department to convert data associated with vehicle license plates for official law enforcement purposes, including identifying stolen or wanted vehicles, stolen license plates, and missing persons. It may also be used to gather information related to active warrants, homeland security, electronic surveillance, suspect interdiction and stolen property recovery. All installation and maintenance of ALPR equipment, as well as ALPR data retention and access, shall be managed by the Police Support Services Division Commander (Police Captain). The Police Support Services Division Commander will assign members under his/her command to administer the day-to-day operation of the ALPR equipment and data. ALPR ADMINISTRATOR The Police Support Services Division Commander shall be responsible for developing guidelines and procedures to comply with the requirements of Civil Code 1798.90.5 et seq. This includes, but is not limited to (Civil Code 1798.90.51; Civil Code 1798.90.53): Page 1 of 3 (a) A description of the job title or other designation of the members and independent contractors who are authorized to use or access the ALPR system or to collect ALPR information. (b) Training requirements for authorized users. (c) A description of how the ALPR system will be monitored to ensure the security of the information and compliance with applicable privacy laws. (d) Procedures for system operators to maintain records of access in compliance with Civil Code 1798.90.52. (e) The title and name of the current designee in overseeing the ALPR operation.
(f) Working with the Custodian of Records on the retention and destruction of ALPR data. (g) Ensuring this policy and related procedures are conspicuously posted on the department s website. OPERATIONS Use of an ALPR is restricted to the purposes outlined below. Department members shall not use, or allow others to use the equipment or database records for any unauthorized purpose (Civil Code 1798.90.51; Civil Code 1798.90.53). (a) An ALPR shall only be used for official law enforcement business. (b) An ALPR may be used in conjunction with any routine patrol operation or criminal investigation. Reasonable suspicion or probable cause is not required before using an ALPR. (c) While an ALPR may be used to canvass license plates around any crime scene, particular consideration should be given to using ALPR-equipped cars to canvass areas around homicides, shootings and other major incidents. Partial license plates reported during major crimes should be entered into the ALPR system in an attempt to identify suspect vehicles. (d) No member of this department shall operate ALPR equipment or access ALPR data without first completing department-approved training. (e) No ALPR operator may access department, state or federal data unless authorized to do so. (f) If practicable, the officer should verify an ALPR response through the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS) before taking enforcement action that is based solely on an ALPR alert. DATA COLLECTION AND RETENTION The Support Services Division Commander is responsible for ensuring systems and processes are in place for the proper collection and retention of ALPR data. Data will be transferred from vehicles and fixed cameras to designated storage in accordance with department procedures. All ALPR data downloaded to the server should be stored for a minimum of one year (Government Code 34090.6) and in accordance with the City of Palos Verdes Estates established records retention schedule. Thereafter, ALPR data should 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 discovery request or other lawful action to produce records. In those circumstances the applicable data should be downloaded from the server onto portable media and booked into evidence. ACCOUNTABILITY All data will be closely safeguarded and protected by both procedural and technological means. The Palos Verdes Estates Police Department will observe the following safeguards regarding access to and use of stored data (Civil Code 1798.90.51; Civil Code 1798.90.53): Page 2 of 3
(a) All ALPR data downloaded to the mobile workstation and in storage shall be accessible only through an individual employee unique login/password-protected system capable of documenting all access of information by name, date and time (Civil Code 1798.90.52). (b) Members approved to access ALPR data under these guidelines are permitted to access the data for legitimate law enforcement purposes only, such as when the data relate to a specific criminal investigation or department-related civil or administrative action. (c) ALPR system audits should be conducted by designated Department staff on a regular basis. For security or data breaches, see the Records Release and Maintenance Policy. RELEASING ALPR DATA The ALPR data may be shared only with other law enforcement or prosecutorial agencies for official law enforcement purposes or as otherwise permitted by law, via an inter-agency agreement or by using the following procedures: (a) The agency makes a written request (or enters into a Memorandum of Understanding) for the ALPR data that includes: 1. The name of the agency. 2. The name of the person requesting. 3. The intended purpose of obtaining the information. 4. A description of the requested information. (b) The request is reviewed by the Police Support Services Division Commander or the authorized designee and approved before the request is fulfilled. (c) The approved request is retained on file. Requests for ALPR data by non-law enforcement or non-prosecutorial agencies will be processed through normal Departmental records procedure, and if approved, will be limited to the quantity of license plates in a given period of time at a particular location, and the number of hits in that same chronological period for a specific offense requested. No license plate numbers or images will be released to non-law enforcement or non-prosecutorial agencies, members of the public or media. TRAINING The Professional Standards and Training Unit shall ensure that members receive departmentapproved training for those authorized to use or access the ALPR system (Civil Code 1798.90.51; Civil Code 1798.90.53). Page 3 of 3