San Jose continues license plate reader installation after early successes

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- By this Summer, 500 automated license plate readers will be installed in San Jose. It's part of a push by police and the city to curb crime and make the community feel safe.

Residents in the Plata Arroyo neighborhood of East San Jose see this as a major benefit.

"We've had shootings, we've had murders, we've had auto theft, we've had tons of crime," Plata Arroyo Neighborhood Association president Danny Garza said. "So, the quality of life issue that we have in the East Valley, that is what this is helping us with."

The new camera on King Rd. and Wilshire Blvd. is one of the 500 flock safety automated license plate readers being installed throughout San Jose.

It aims to make this neighborhood safer, just like other cameras have done across the city.

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"Our ALPR network has helped our officers catch suspects with ghost guns, drugs, stolen packages, outstanding warrants for rape and domestic violence and even a group of teens responsible for 60 vehicle break-ins," Mayor Matt Mahan said.

The cameras take a picture of the back of a car to identify the make, model, color and license plate characters.

When a crime occurs, police use the cameras to search for these identifiers to solve the case.

"These cameras make a difference by being able to identify and apprehend suspects, curbing criminal activity and providing crime victims with the feeling of closure and justice," SJPD Acting Chief Paul Joseph said.

The video is retained for 365 days - 10 times longer than most cities that use flock cameras.

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And privacy expert Mike Katz-Lacabe worries the longer video is kept, the higher the risk.

"Not only of the information being compromised, but for the ability of someone who has access to that to abuse it," Katz-Lacabe said. "And the fact is, we do not have good mechanisms of oversight that would actually review the logs to determine whose accessed it and what for to determine if there's abuse."

Chief Joseph says the cameras are never used for immigration control or other non-investigatory causes that would impact privacy.

As far as the retention period, Joseph says the yearlong period was advised by the city attorney's office.

He says the cameras are solely used to solve crimes and make the community feel safe, like here in Plata Arroyo.

"We're not afraid to go up and down Alum Rock Avenue because our community has been fighting for these protections and slowly but surely, and financially, they've been coming," Garza said.

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