California Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed a lawsuit against the City of El Cajon, accusing its police department of repeatedly violating state law by sharing automated license plate reader (ALPR) data with law enforcement agencies in more than two dozen states.
The lawsuit comes at a moment of heightened concern for immigrants and women seeking reproductive care. Once data leaves California, it can be accessed by agencies in states with different policies regarding those populations.
California passed a state law nearly a decade ago restricting how police agencies handle data collected by license plate readers. The camera systems automatically log the plate number, time, date, and location of passing vehicles. Detectives can later use that data to prove an individual was in a certain location at a certain time, a tool they say helps them solve crimes.
The law prohibits state and local agencies from sharing that data with federal or out-of-state authorities, mainly because once the information leaves California, the state loses oversight over how the information is used.
“That’s why the California Legislature passed (the law) — to ensure information about Californians remains here in California,” Bonta said Friday in announcing the lawsuit. “Yet El Cajon has knowingly and repeatedly refused to comply with state law, jeopardizing the privacy and safety of individuals in its community.”
