Sheriff, police shared license plate reader data. Sacramento grand jury says they broke law

A Sacramento County grand jury investigation into the use of license plate readers by local law enforcement accuses the Sheriff’s Office of violating California law in its handling and oversight of data collected by the scanners.

The conclusions of the seven-month review by the grand jury, released Wednesday, come just days after the state Attorney General’s Office asked the agency to disclose how it is sharing the data, according to a document obtained by The Sacramento Bee.

Officers say the readers are a powerful aid to solving crimes. Along with scanning license plates, law enforcement officials tout how the cameras can help identify the type of vehicle in question, which can help them more quickly find suspects. Departments can share the data they collect with other agencies.

But how the information they collect is shared has concerned advocacy groups that fear it could be used by authorities beyond California’s borders to track the vehicles of people who seek an abortion or gender-affirming care.

State lawmakers in 2015 passed a bill that said police departments are only allowed to share the information they gather from license plate readers with other public agencies. Those include cities and counties and entities that are a part of them, like a law enforcement agency.

The Attorney General’s Office has said that means California agencies can’t share that data with federal or out-of-state departments. Some departments have disagreed with that interpretation.

A state audit published in 2020 found the Sheriff’s Office made images its cameras took available to over a thousand entities across the country. What’s more, the auditors could not always determine how the agency decided whether out-of-state departments had a right or need to access the information.

The grand jury report also accused the Sacramento Police Department of violating state law. An agency spokesperson told The Bee it updated its policy earlier this month, ending the practice of sharing such information with out-of-state agencies.

“The Sacramento Police Department proactively contacted the A.G.’s office and our city attorney’s office to seek clarification on the language in the A.G.’s bulletin,” the agency said. “We are working collaboratively to ensure that our policies and procedures are in accordance with both state and federal law.”

The Sheriff’s Office did not respond to questions this month about the agency’s sharing of data but Steve Caruso, the grand jury’s foreperson, said in a statement that the agency said it would stop sharing information with departments outside of California.

The Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday said it would comment on the grand jury’s findings after reviewing the report.

The grand jury also interviewed department leaders and reviewed policies for Citrus Heights, Elk Grove and Folsom police. They complied with state law about sharing data, the report said. But the departments could do a better job of posting their policies more prominently on their websites, it added, which is also required under state law.

The report titled “Keep Your Eyes Off My Privacy!” lists five recommendations including that agencies make license plate reader policies easier for the public to find no later than Jan. 1. It also suggested that the Sheriff’s Office conduct regular internal audits.