Analyzing LBPD's Use of License Plate Readers

Greg Buhl

Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) came to Long Beach in 2005, billed as a cost-effective tool for increasing citation revenue and finding stolen cars.

Long Beach uses stationary cameras and three-camera mobile units mounted mostly on patrol vehicles.

According to LBPD documents from a nationwide survey of ALPR use by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the LBPD read 45 million plates in 2016-2017 while 173 agencies logged 2.5 billion plates.

In 2019, the LBPD scanned 24,704,972 million plates – 67,684 per day, a plate every 1.27 seconds.

In 2018, the LBPD shared ALPR data with 178 agencies through Vigilant Solution's LEARN database and at least 300 more through the phased-out National Vehicle Location Service (NVLS).

By January 2020, LEARN data sharing grew to 1,000+ other agencies – showing Vigilant's dominance of the growing ALPR market.

EFF Senior Investigative Researcher Dave Maass' Public Record Requests (PRA) showed that as of January 2020, the LBPD did not share "hot list" data.

This may have changed and could explain how Pasadena Police and Riverside Sheriff ALPRs flagged vehicles owned by people who attended the May 31st Black Lives Matter protests in Long Beach.

All three departments are Vigilant Solutions' clients.

The LBPD's ALPR implementation was led by former Sgt. Chris Morgan. Since 2006, Morgan has been featured in numerous articles on ALPR.

In 2008, he described ALPRs benefits for lawofficer.com, specifically his one-month pilot study, which impounded 300 cars with five or more tickets – with delinquent citations totaling $200,000.

As substantial as that is, Morgan said that "the biggest benefit" from ALPRs is "data mining" to solve violent felonies.

At the time, the LBPD was scanning two million plates yearly with seven mobile ALPRs from PIPS Technology ($20,000 each).

Long Beach updated its ALPRs with a 2011 City Council-approved purchase of 30 mobile and 12 fixed units from PIPS for (at most) $900,000.

In 2014, the fixed units were described by Sgt. Morgan as defective and out-of-warranty in the bid quote he filed for three new stationary ALPRs from 3M.

Documents show the original quote was $24,695, a Homeland Security grant covered part, and 3M received payments of over $200,000 in 2014 and 2015.

In 2014, the LBPD switched its vendor to Vigilant Solutions.

Vigilant's main benefit is its nationwide LEARN database, which gives access to other agencies' data and Vigilant's network of privately-owned ALPRs, which includes toll roads, malls and mobile repossession units.

LEARN allows agencies to share hot lists – freely or based on reciprocity. Vigilant has integrated its facial recognition technology – FaceSearch – into the LEARN system, which Vigilant is up-selling or offering as a demo program.

Vigilant also sells its data to private clients, although as of January 2020 Californians can opt-out of the sale of their data using the California Consumer Privacy Act.

In addition to the $24,999 LEARN annual fee (prepaid through 2021), the LBPD has purchased $360,000 in equipment from Vigilant Solutions – mostly with Homeland Security grants.

The most significant expense was for 22 three-camera mobile units purchased in March 2018, adding to the 37 older units.

Morgan oversaw the LBPD's ALPR program until his retirement as a lieutenant in September 2018. In November 2018, he began employment with Vigilant Solutions as a customer success manager.

Of the billions of scans conducted yearly, only a fraction of a percent are hits on "hot" cars. In Long Beach, the hit ratio is 0.07%, meaning 99.93% of the data collected is on the law-abiding.

California was early to recognize ALPRs pitfalls and passed Senate Bill 34 (2015) to create standards for ALPR access, use, data sharing, data protection and audit responsibility.

Past database misuse by officers has included stalking women, blackmailing closeted gay bar patrons, tracking family and friends, spying on celebrities, side businesses related searches and outright selling access.

Even without intentional misuse, serious issues can occur due to bad policies or over-reliance on technology, as shown by the flagging of Long Beach BLM protesters or the Black family in Aurora, Colo., as recently reported nationally.

Another problem is lax cybersecurity – a 2015 EFF study found dozens of police ALPR systems with significant security shortfalls. 2019 reporting by techcrunch.com found 150 ALPR systems with data unprotected or protected by default passwords.

In 2019, the California Auditor audited ALPR use of four California law enforcement agencies and found all were out of compliance with SB 34 four years after its passage.

Analyzing the LBPD's posted policy under the same standards reveals the LBPD to be out of compliance, with specific deficiencies related to system oversight, storage of data, how to destroy ALPR data, protections for personal information and system auditing.

Further limits on ALPRs were created by the 2017 California Values Act, which prohibits local assistance in non-criminal immigration enforcement.

The EFF found that after ICE had trouble accessing Vigilant's database due to contracting problems and bad publicity, a systems administrator created three accounts on the LBPD system for ICE and CBP agents.

Those agents conducted 856 searches until their access was revoked in July 2017 – two months before the Long Beach Values Act would have forbid the practice.

While the LBPD no longer shares data directly with ICE, full Values Acts compliance requires that the LBPD get assurances of compliance from the 1,000+ agencies it shares data with on the LEARN system.

Full compliance is questionable – as of January 2020, the LBPD shared data with Homeland Security Investigations (a division of ICE), US Customs and Border Protections' National Targeting Center, CA Border Patrol and numerous other federal and local agencies that reportedly share information with ICE (including the La Habra, Upland, Merced and Union City police).

 

Greg Buhl is a Long Beach attorney, writer and research analyst.

gdbuhl@gmail.com

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Comments

OK LBPD is corrupt and we all no it, now what? nothing is going to change!! LBPD can break the law and we the tax payer do nothing. This is a joke and the city is a big joke>>

Just like teachers, politicians, firefighters...not going to change and in for the long haul!

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