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Brisbane police defend ALPR program, cite sharp drop in stolen vehicles
Summary
Police told the council their ALPR (automated license-plate reader) settings comply with California Senate Bill 34, are audited monthly, and have helped reduce stolen-vehicle incidents; commander Amanda Garcia described case examples and the department warned about misuse risks and pledged ongoing audits and access controls.
Brisbane police briefed the City Council on March 5 about the department’s automated license‑plate reader (ALPR) program and statewide concerns about vendor data sharing. Staff told council members the city’s ALPR settings are configured to limit sharing in line with California Senate Bill 34 and that the vendor has disabled nationwide sharing by default.
Commander Amanda Garcia, the department’s ALPR coordinator, presented statistics and case examples she said show strong results since deployment: an 87% drop in stolen vehicles compared with the spike experienced in 2021–22 and several investigations where ALPR hits led to arrests or helped investigators identify vehicles involved in serious incidents, including hit‑and‑run cases. "In my 20 years here, this was a game changer," Garcia said, describing faster lead development and recovered property in multiple cases.
Police and city staff emphasized privacy safeguards: they said access to ALPR data is restricted to sworn officers, the system uses multi‑factor authentication and keystroke/usage audits, and the department conducts monthly internal and external audits of system activity. Members of the public and council raised concerns about misuse by individual officers or third parties; some commenters recommended independent external audits by firms not affiliated with the vendor or the regional sharing network. Police acknowledged bad actors have occurred in other jurisdictions and reaffirmed a commitment to frequent audits and accountability measures.
Council members thanked police for the detailed briefing and asked staff to continue annual audits and to share success stories and program metrics in future updates. The item was informational; no formal council action was required.
