OPD to Propose 300 Stationary ALPR Cams to Replace Mothballed Current System at PAC Meeting Thursday

Nearly a year after shutting down its own Automated License Plate Reader [ALPR] system, OPD returns to the Privacy Advisory Commission [PAC] Thursday with a new proposed ALPR use policy–for a new ALPR system. OPD now appears intent on acquiring an expanded city-wide stationary ALPR system.

Documents included in tomorrow's PAC agenda indicate strongly that OPD is leaving its vehicle-mounted ALPR behind completely in favor of the new system after years of protracted battles with the PAC over use policies and poor efficacy. At the July PAC meeting where OPD revealed the ALPR shut-down, Captain Anthony Todesco all but admitted that the vehicle-mounted system is crumbling and ineffective.

After Mayor Sheng Thao announced a $1.2MM state of California loan to purchase a new ALPR system in August, OPD appears to be proposing a move to a new Flock platform, the stationary-mounted system more and more of its municipal neighbors are adopting and considering. Berkeley voted to install a Flock ALPR system city-wide this summer and Piedmont already has a city-wide system.

A proposed purchase order for the Flock service and devices accompanies OPD's proposed use policy. OPD plans to purchase 300 ALPR cameras, software and support services and ongoing contract services for a cost of $2.8MM. Ongoing annual costs would be $900K, according to the document.

OPD's new proposed use policy suggests a caveated 30 day retention policy–plate images and vehicle data could be kept for almost any rationale that can be linked to an ongoing investigation.

OPD's new proposed Use Policy also addresses the auditing issue representatives say spurred OPD to mothball the current system in February–quarterly auditing requirements passed as a Council amendment to the use policy last October were allegedly so onerous that OPD shut down its system rather than attempt to fulfill them. Former Police Chief Leronne Armstrong praised the use policy and its restrictions as they were suggested and passed passed last October, however.

The new use policy now only requires a representative partial audit annually, reduced considerably from quarterly in the current council-amended use policy.

Given Council and media's disinterest in OPD's departure from the old ALPR system [only Oaklandside covered the ALPR shutdown], the new narrative is likely to feel like a super-hero reboot to those who have followed OPD's struggle with privacy advocates over ALPR. At last night's Council meeting, Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas referred to the ALPR system positively as one of several crime reduction policies Council and the Mayor are backing. That means the system may face little resistance when it finally arrives at Council.  

The data is still inconclusive as to how effective Flock's system is over the kind of ALPR OPD once used. Flock issues an alert in real time when a known stolen car hits an ALPR scan and flock also logs other identifying features, like make, model and color, and these are all improvements over the old system. But as Wired reported several years ago, even Flock success stories appear to be muddled with doubt given normal variations in vehicle crimes.

More on this story as it develops.