SF Chronicle: Oakland action on license plate readers tries to balance violent crime worries with privacy concerns
Oakland police can continue using license plate readers in crime investigations after agreeing to more oversight in how the department uses the data.
The Oakland City Council voted unanimously Tuesday on a compromise that requires the city Police Department to keep the data pulled from license plate readers for six months instead of two years, the current length of time it’s stored. The compromise — meant to address concerns about privacy violations — requires the Police Department to give quarterly reports on how the data is used. It also gives the department $16,000 to upgrade its software systems so it can produce the reports.
The debate comes less than a month before the mayoral election, in which three City Council members are battling seven other candidates, and as the city faces a spike in violent crime that has residents pressuring officials to take action.
