San Rafael is the latest Bay Area city to consider adding license plate readers
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. - More license plate readers may soon be coming to San Rafael's streets after the city council supported a plan to install the cameras due to an increase in crime.
San Rafael City Council voted 4-0 on August 21 to approve a plan for a $118,000 contract that would result in 19 license plate readers citywide, the Marin Independent Journal reported.
City Council also directed San Rafael's City Attorney to negotiate the terms with Flock Safety, the service provider, before a final contract is signed.
Vehicle thefts have increased by 50% during the past five years and only about 45% of the stolen vehicles have been recovered, San Rafael police said.
The cameras will be installed in key traffic locations and take photos of license plates. The data will be stored for 30 days and will flag stolen license plates, vehicles, or vehicles matching a description of one involved in a crime.
The cameras do not have facial recognition technology, the Marin IJ reported.
Although the plan was approved, some councilmembers expressed concern over data privacy.
"The existing provisions seem very one-sided and there seems room there for us to do better for our constituents on that front, while capturing the needed law enforcement benefits that the system offers," said councilmember Maribeth Bushey.
San Rafael currently has eight license readers on patrol cars and a speed radar trailer.
Vacaville installed license plate readers in 2019 and have reported a 30% decrease in auto thefts.
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Privacy advocates worry about license plate readers in Oakland
Privacy advocates are raising concerns about the plan in Oakland to install Automated License Plate Readers.
Other cities in the Bay Area also use license plate readers, including Berkeley and Piedmont. Oakland is implementing a license plate reader system, which has irked many privacy rights advocates.
"My general concerns with [license plate readers] is literally that it's mass surveillance indiscriminately collecting data on all license plates driving by," said Brian Hofer, chair of Oakland's Privacy Advocacy Commission. "Historically, 99.9% of all data collected will never be used. So putting people into a criminal law enforcement database for no reason, there's no justification for that."