PLATE-READER SHARING HALTED

Chula Vista temporarily pauses auto license data access by Border Patrol, ICE

Chula Vista has stopped — for now, at least — allowing federal Border Patrol and immigration agents to look at data that police collect from electronic license plate readers.

“I want to make it clear to the public that that data sharing has stopped,” Mayor Mary Salas said at a City Council meeting Tuesday.

The South County city has temporarily blocked federal agencies with an immigration enforcement component from looking at the data until the City Council learns more about the data-sharing program. That report to the council is likely to happen in January.

Those agencies include Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, which includes Border Patrol.

On Friday, Salas issued a statement that the city “recognizes the concerns recently raised” about sharing data with immigration officials. “Chief (Roxana) Kennedy and I are in agreement that a comprehensive review of the program is necessary,” she said.

For three years, Chula Vista has been a part of a database that allowed hundreds of agencies to look at each other’s license-plate reader data. The database is run by Vigilant Solutions, the private company that supplies cameras to

Chula Vista has stopped — for now, at least — allowing federal Border Patrol and immigration agents to look at data that police collect from electronic license plate readers.

“I want to make it clear to the public that that data sharing has stopped,” Mayor Mary Salas said at a City Council meeting Tuesday.

The city has temporarily blocked federal agencies with an immigration enforcement component from looking at the data until the City Council learns more about the data-sharing program. That report to the council is likely to happen in January.

Those agencies include Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, which includes Border Patrol.

On Friday, Salas issued a statement that the city “recognizes the concerns recently raised” about sharing data with immigration officials. “Chief (Roxana) Kennedy and I are in agreement that a comprehensive review of the program is necessary,” she said.

For three years, Chula Vista has been a part of a database that allowed hundreds of agencies to look at each other’s license-plate reader data. The database is run by Vigilant Solutions, the private company that supplies cameras to read license plates and stores the collected information.

The decision to suspend data access for immigration enforcement agencies came just days after The San Diego Union-tribune reported on the existence of the data-sharing agreement. Until recently, neither the City Council nor the mayor knew of the program.

The revelation that immigration officers could look at local license plate data brought quick criticism. Activist and Chula Vista resident Pedro Rios, director of the American Friends Service Committee San Diego, tweeted that the program “infringes on civil liberties & has potential of being an extension of immigration enforcement.”

On Monday, incoming City Council member Andrea Cardenas issued a statement calling for an end to the data collection, noting “systemic inequities” and a “long history of institutional racism” that created mistrust between communities of color and policing agencies.

California is a “sanctuary state,” which limits cooperation between local and federal agencies in immigration matters. State law prohibits state and local agencies from investigating or arresting people for immigration reasons. In addition, Chula Vista police policy prevents its officers from enforcing immigration laws.

Here, the data in question is focused on license plates, not people, so the sharing agreement does not violate state law.

Chula Vista police have used license plate readers for several years. The City Council approved their use in 2007. But in 2017, the department bought new hardware from Vigilant Solutions. Police also signed on for a subscription service through the company, which gave them access to a database to see and share data with hundreds of policing agencies.

Chula Vista can outfit up to four police vehicles with the readers, which take photos of every license plate they encounter, then log the location, time and date.