The Berkeley City Council will consider buying automated license plate readers (ALPRs) at its Tuesday meeting.
The Berkeley Police Department is proposing a two-year trial of 52 ALPRs around the city. The proposal seeks approval of an initial setup cost of $250,000 and an annual operating cost of $175,000.
The ALPRs would be mounted on fixed locations around the city and automatically capture images of stolen vehicles, cars connected to crimes, and vehicles on a BPD database of license plates associated with vehicles of interest.
Berkeley police are confident that the ALPRs will be a valuable tool for law enforcement.
"ALPRs can help us deter crime and solve crimes more quickly," said Berkeley Police Sgt. Joe Ledoux in the proposal. "They are a proven technology used by law enforcement agencies all over the country."
Auto thefts in Berkeley are up by 67% this year compared to last year, according to data from the Berkeley Police Department's Transparency Hub. The data shows that the city's crime reports are up 15% from last year.
Berkeley's Police Accountability Board voted in June to reject the proposal. Board member Kitty Calavita said the proposal lacked data on the effectiveness of ALPRs, better civil liberties protections on privacy, and clarity around costs.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California sent the Berkeley City Council a letter ahead of Tuesday's meeting calling on the council to reject the proposal, saying it "leaves important questions unaddressed and raises a number of serious concerns about the proposed program's impact on the rights and liberties of drivers, residents, and visitors in Berkeley."
The Berkeley City Council could approve the proposal, reject it or modify it. If the council approves the proposal, the Police Department will begin the two-year trial of 52 ALPRs around the city. At the end of the trial, the department would report back to the City Council on the results of the trial. The council would then decide whether to continue the use of ALPRs in the city.
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The council meeting takes place at 6 p.m. at the Berkeley Unified School District board room at 1231 Addison St. in Berkeley.
Live captioned broadcasts of council meetings are available on Cable B-TV (Channel 33) and via internet video stream at http://berkeley.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=1244.
Remote participation by the public is available through Zoom at https://cityofberkeley- info.zoomgov.com/j/1606074224.
