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HomeMy WebLinkAbout17-21RESOLUTION 17-21 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS ADOPTING A POLICY ON AUTOMATIC LICENSE PLATE READERS IN THE TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS WHEREAS, Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras are used by police departments across the United States to instantly capture license information and compare it against lists of license plates associated with stolen vehicles, people that have committed a crime, and for other investigative purposes; and WHEREAS, there has been an increase in residential burglaries in Town causing support for ALPR cameras; and WHEREAS, California Civil Code section 1798.90.5 requires that public agencies with ALPRs must adopt and implement a usage and privacy policy that identifies the individuals who will have access to ALPR data, describes how the ALPR system will be monitored, lists parameters for sharing of ALPR data, describes measures that will be taken to protect the accuracy of ALPR data, and specifies the retention period for ALPR data; and WHEREAS, ALPR technology has decreased in price over the years and become affordable to the Town. NOW THEREFORE, the City Council of the Town of Los Altos Hills hereby adopts the attached Automatic License Plate Reader Policy for the use of ALPR cameras in Town. The above and foregoing Resolution was passed and adopted by the City Council of the Town of Los Altos Hills at a regular meeting held on 181h of March 2021 by the following vote: AYES: Tan-kha, Tyson, Mok, Schmidt, Swan NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None ATTEST: a&LY14-- Deborah L. Padovan, City Clerk Lo Kavita Tankha, Mayor Resolution 17-21 Page l TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS MOOS HILLS 26379 Fremont Road Los Altos Hills, CA 94022 Phone: (650) 941-7222 w www.losaltoshills.ca.gov CALIFORNIA Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) Policy Approved by City Council 03/18/2021 1. Purpose The Town of Los Altos Hills owns Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPR) at fixed locations within the Town for certain law enforcement and public safety purposes. ALPRs use high speed cameras to photograph vehicle license plates. The Town procures the ALPRs from certain Town Council -approved vendor(s) and contracts with such vendor for maintenance and repair of the ALPR system on an as -need basis. Town ALPRs are intended only to be used for authorized law enforcement and public safety purposes and its data are only intended to be accessed by authorized users. California Civil Code section 1798.90.5 requires public agencies operating ALPRs to adopt and implement a usage and privacy policy in order to ensure that the collection, use, maintenance, sharing, and dissemination of information collected pursuant to such system protects individual privacy and civil liberties. Consistent with the state law mandate, the Town has adopted this Automatic License Plate Reader Policy ("Policy") to regulate the use, management, retention and other aspects of Town ALPRs. This Policy shall be made available to the public in writing and posted on the Town's website. 2. Authorized and Prohibited Uses Town ALPRs are installed at fixed locations in Los Altos Hills and shall only be utilized for the following purposes: • To locate stolen, wanted, and/or other vehicles that are the subject of investigation; • To locate and/or apprehend individuals subject to arrest warrants or who are otherwise lawfully sought by law enforcement; • To locate victims, witnesses, suspects, and others associated with a law enforcement investigation; • To locate missing children, adults, and/or elderly individuals, including in response to Amber Alerts and Silver Alerts; • To support local, state, federal, and regional public safety departments in the identification of vehicles associated with targets of criminal investigations, including investigations of serial crimes; • To protect participants at special events; • To protect critical infrastructure sites; • For other law enforcement or first responder uses not prohibited by law. Resolution 17-21 Page 2 Automatic License Plate Reader Policy Page 2 Any data obtained from Town ALPRs shall be used and handled pursuant to this Policy and applicable state and federal law. All other uses not referenced above shall be prohibited. ALPR data should under no circumstances be used for personal or purposes nor specifically authorized herein. Possession of ALPR data does not negate the need to comply with other laws or regulations including the requirement to obtain a search warrant when legally required. 3. Data Collection Digital images of vehicle license plates and their associated license plate numbers shall be collected by Town ALPRs. The ALPR system shall collect the date and time that the license plate passes a digital -image site where an ALPR is located. 4. Data Storage/Protection Data collected by ALPRs are automatically uploaded to the ALPR system's associated cloud storage at the time of capture. Cloud storage and server capacity shall be provided for and maintained by the Town's contracted ALPR vendor as a part of the scope of services. The Town shall confirm that the contracted vendor installs and implements appropriate security measures for such storage including encryption, firewalls, authentication, and other reasonable data protection measures. Data stored in the ALPR system cloud space shall not be downloaded to a local server, stored locally on a hard drive or portable device, or produced in a physical printout, except in the following two cases: 1) Where vehicle license plate image and numbers have been flagged by the ALPR system as a match to a stolen vehicle or other law enforcement registry; or 2) Where data retrieval is necessary for conducting or assisting with a criminal investigation, or to facilitate an authorized use identified in Section 2 above. Only personnel from the Santa Clara County Sheriff `s Office ("Sheriff's Office") may download ALPR data for local storage or printout for authorized purposes stated herein. ALPR data may not otherwise be downloaded for any other purpose by authorized personnel or by Town staff and other unauthorized individuals or entities. Downloaded, copied, and printed data shall be maintained in accordance with applicable state and federal evidentiary laws and maintain appropriate chain of custody. Additionally, the Sheriff's Office shall implement physical security, encryption, firewalls, authentication, and other reasonable security measures to protect ALPRs data: • All ALPR data downloaded to the mobile workstation or in storage shall be accessible only through a login/password-protected system capable of documenting all access of information by name, date, and time. Resolution 17-21 Page 3 Automatic License Plate Reader Policy Page 3 Only those employees of the Sheriff's Office working in an investigative or enforcement function shall access ALPR data. Sheriff's Office employees approved to access ALPR data under these guidelines shall be permitted to access the data for the specific purposes outlined in Section 2 above. S. Data Access The Town's ALPR system may only be used by, and data collected thereunder shall be accessible only by, personnel of the Sheriff's Office pursuant to a contract providing law enforcement services to the Town. While the Town contracts with certain vendor(s) for maintenance and repair of the ALPR system on an as -need basis, such vendors shall only be tasked with the inspection, troubleshooting, and maintenance of the ALPR system hardware and software configuration, associated cloud storage mechanism and server, as necessary. Vendors are not authorized to access data collected by ALPRs under any circumstances. In addition to this Policy, Sheriff personnel shall observe and comply with the Sheriff's Surveillance Use Policy and any additional guidelines and regulations that are in place governing ALPR use and access. Prior to grant of use and access, the Sheriff's Office shall execute an agreement with the Town and/or the Town's contracted ALPR vendor, to the satisfaction of the Town Attorney, agreeing to comply with the terms of use for the Town's ALPR system. 6. Data Retention Data stored in the ALPR cloud system shall be purged after thirty (30) days from the date it was uploaded to the cloud system unless otherwise flagged by the ALPR system or downloaded locally pursuant to Section 4 above. Data that is flagged by the ALPR system, or otherwise downloaded and stored pursuant to Section 4 above shall be purged no later than six (6) months from the date it was flagged or downloaded for local storage, unless the data thereafter becomes associated with a criminal investigation or an ongoing case for an authorized purpose identified in Section 2 above. In the latter case, the data shall be purged no later than one (1) year from the date it was collected. 7. Public Access ALPR data shall not be sold, shared, or transferred unless otherwise specified under this Policy. ALPR data shall not be made public unless specifically required by state or federal law, or by court order. If a public request for data is received by the Town or the Town becomes aware of such request to personnel authorized for data access hereunder, the Town shall confer with its Town Attorney's Office to determine whether the requested data is exempt from disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act or other state or Resolution 17-21 Page 4 Automatic License Plate Reader Policy Page 4 federal law provisions, and whether any additional steps are required in response to such request for data. 8. Third -Party Data -Sharing Data -sharing from Town ALPRs shall be limited to only the following: • District Attorney's Office for use as evidence to aid in prosecution, in accordance with laws governing evidence; • Public Defender's Office or criminal defense attorney via the District Attorney's Office in accordance with California criminal discovery laws; • Other law enforcement offices as part of a formal criminal or administrative investigation; • Parties to civil litigation, or other third parties, in response to a valid court order only. 9. Training All personnel authorized to use and access the ALPR system and data pursuant to this Policy shall receive all required training from the Sheriff's Office. Said Personnel shall also review and receive copies of this Policy and the Sheriff's Surveillance Use policy. 10. Oversight The Sheriff's Office shall ensure compliance with this Policy as the provider of law enforcement services to the Town. All access to ALPR Data shall be logged, and the Sheriff's Office shall maintain an audit trail of requested and accessed information, including the purpose of the search. Periodic, random audits shall be conducted by the Sheriffs Office and also on at least an annual basis. Audits shall ensure compliance with this policy and all applicable laws, and shall be used to ensure the accuracy of ALPR information and correct data errors. Audit reports shall contain at least the following information: • Date and time of access; • Reason for accessing data; • Activity executed, including any license plate numbers searched; • Incident number associated with the investigation. Upon completion of each audit, the Sheriff's Office shall provide a copy of the audit report to the Town's City Manager for review within five (5) business days of completion. Resolution 17-21 Page 5