A police cruiser in San Bruno may soon be equipped with a gadget that reads license plates to upload and store the car identification information, under approval by the City Council.
The proposal to accept one mobile license plate reader, which will be mounted on a car in the San Bruno Police Department fleet, will be considered during the City Council’s meeting Tuesday, July 14.
The recording device, which instantaneously scans and captures license plate data, is necessary to enhance public safety, according to a report written by Police Chief Ed Barberini.
“We believe it to be an asset that will help us in what we do,” he said.
Investigating residential burglaries or car thefts, locating stolen or wanted vehicles, arresting suspects, finding victims of a crime and tracking down people who have gone missing could all be made easier through aid of the technology, according to the report.
The San Mateo County Office of Emergency Service and Homeland Security has secured grant funding which would be used to purchase the license plate reader, worth approximately $22,000, and offer it to the San Bruno Police Department, according to the report.
Cities in San Mateo County such as San Mateo, Daly City, Menlo Park and Redwood City already have similar technology in place.
San Bruno police have borrowed license plate readers from other jurisdictions in the past, and found them helpful in solving crimes, said Barberini.
“Over the past few years, we’ve experienced some successes, not only in solving crimes, but assisting other local agencies,” he said.
Considering the city’s placement near the intersection of Interstate 280 and Highway 101, the technology would be effective not only in assisting investigations of police in San Bruno, but law enforcement across San Mateo County, said Barberini.
The report cites one incident in which the technology was instrumental in the investigation of a homicide in Daly City, in which the suspect alleged he was in San Jose at the time of death and could not have committed the crime, but license plate data contradicted his story and showed he was nearby in San Bruno.
“It is believed that the deployment of [an automated license plate reader] would not only benefit the San Bruno Police Department, but would also prove valuable to law enforcement agencies throughout the county and region,” Barberini wrote in the report.
Concerns regarding privacy have developed as license plate readers have become more prevalent, as civil liberty groups worry about the ability of law enforcement to locate and track innocent residents.
Should the council approve accepting a license plate reader, the technology would feed into the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, a government agency with jurisdiction from Monterey to Humboldt counties.
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The regional database had gathered more than 46 million images of license plate readers in the last year, according to a Daily Journal report published in April.
State Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, has proposed legislation which would require agencies to provide hearing and a public comment period before implementing the technology.
Assistant City Manager Tami Yuki said she has not received any feedback from residents who may be hesitant about the implementation of the technology.
“If there are people who have concerns, I’m assuming they will show up to the council meeting,” she said.
But, according to Barberini’s report, NCRIC policy protects against abuse and dissemination of sensitive information.
“The secure storage of information garnered by [automated license plate readers] is regulated and only accessible to law enforcement agencies on a ‘need to know’ basis,” according to the report.
The regional agency purges its records of all vehicles not involved in criminal investigations every year, according to the report.
As license plate readers become increasingly common for local police departments, Barberini said the San Bruno Police Department is constantly looking for opportunities to stay up to date with the most recent technological advancements which could aid law enforcement.
“San Bruno faces the same challenges that every city in our area faces,” he said. “And we are always looking to take the same steps as our partners regionally to make things safer for our residents.”
Yuki said should the technology help make San Bruno more secure, she would support its implementation.
“If this is something that would assist our police department and our residents, that would be a good tool to have,” she said.
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