What happens when a local police chief and the state attorney general disagree over the interpretation of a state law?
That’s exactly what’s happening now in El Cajon regarding the police department’s automated license plate reader (ALPR) surveillance system and one of California’s immigrant sanctuary laws, known as SB 34.
At the center of this legal disagreement is the definition of “public agency.”
The use of ALPR systems, which capture the license plates of countless cars in public places, is controversial. SB 34 prohibits police departments from sharing ALPR data, “except to another public agency, and only as otherwise permitted by law.”
In a legal bulletin issued October 2023, Attorney General Rob Bonta said the law defines “public agency” as law enforcement agencies within the state of California. He specifically said ALPR data cannot be shared with out-of-state or federal law enforcement agencies.
That’s not how El Cajon Police Department (ECPD) Chief Jeremiah Larson reads SB 34. He believes the law defines public agencies as any state or local law enforcement agency in the country. And the El Cajon Police Department shares its ALPR data with dozens of police departments across the country.
“I think we just have a different interpretation of how SB 34 reads than some other folks,” Larson told KPBS News.
Compliance questions
In August 2024, Bonta’s office sent the ECPD a letter questioning whether the department is complying with the law.
“The Attorney General’s Office is dedicated to ensuring compliance with SB 34,” the letter states. “To that end, we ask that you contact Deputy Attorney General Michael S. Cohen … to confirm whether your agency is sharing ALPR information with out-of-state or federal agencies.”
Bonta’s office sent a similar letter to the San Diego Police Department earlier this year. At the time, the SDPD was sharing ALPR data with several federal agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). SDPD has since stopped sharing with all out-of-state and federal agencies.
El Cajon Chief Larson acknowledges that sharing ALPR data with federal agencies is problematic. But he believes sharing with out-of-state agencies makes the city safer.
Larson said ALPR cameras helped the police department identify the suspects of a multi-state retail theft ring. This group had robbed several stores in Texas, Arizona, Los Angeles, San Diego and El Cajon.
“Using the Flock cameras, we were able to identify all the different locations these folks were going and connect the crimes to them and their group,” he said. “It’s been an absolute game changer.”
Larson said he ran department policies by the city’s legal team. He’s also had, “very cordial” conversations with officials from Bonta’s office about his position on sharing with out-of-state agencies.
To date, there has been no follow up enforcement from the AG. And Bonta’s office declined to tell KPBS whether the ECPD is in compliance with state law.
In a statement, his office said, “We fully expect all law enforcement agencies to comply with the clear requirements of SB 34 as set forth in our law enforcement bulletin, and we are committed to enforcing SB 34 as necessary.”
But the office would not comment further, even to confirm, or deny, potential or ongoing investigations.
A questionable relationship
El Cajon’s ALPR system comes from Atlanta-based Flock Safety, a private company that is the nation’s largest provider of license plate readers. Activists have criticized Flock’s relationship with ICE during the second Trump administration.
As a Flock subscriber, ICE has access to hundreds of ALPR systems from local law enforcement agencies all over the country.
An exception is California, where police agencies are prohibited from sharing their ALPR data with federal law enforcement agencies. But many other states do not have that restriction.
Reports show ICE agents use the Flock system to track immigrants suspected of being in the country without legal status. In some cases, local law enforcement agencies deputized by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have also used the Flock system to enforce federal immigration laws.
For example, the ALPR data from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office in Texas shows local police agencies in Florida, Nebraska, Missouri, and Pennsylvania have all used their ALPR system for immigration-related searches.
El Cajon has some safeguards in place to ensure their ALPR system is not abused. For example, the department only retains data for 30 days unless it is part of an active investigation. It also requires other agencies to provide a reason for each search and specifically reject any immigration-related searches.
But critics say sharing with out-of-state agencies exposes them to risk.
“They don’t have control over what happens when it gets to another state that might not have a law SB 34,” said Viveka Ray-Mazumder, the associate director of inclusive diversity for The Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA).
The records from Texas show that some out-of-state agencies list vague reasons for their ALPR searches, like “sus” “research” or “intl.” Some agencies don’t provide a reason for the search at all.
And given the aggressive nature of President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement, immigrant rights advocates say the federal government cannot be trusted.
“I don’t think there’s any safe way of holding on to ALPR data in general and especially in this moment when we can’t trust what the federal government might do with that data,” said Ray-Mazumder.
