Berkeley approves purchase of automated license plate readers for trial use
The Berkeley City Council approved on Tuesday the purchase of numerous automated license plate readers to place throughout the city for a trial period of two years.
The ALPRS were proposed by the Berkeley Police Department and would be mounted on fixed locations around the city to automatically capture images of stolen vehicles, cars connected to crimes and vehicles on a police database of license plates associated with vehicles of interest.
Auto thefts in Berkeley are up by 67 percent this year compared to last year, according to data from the Berkeley Police Department's Transparency Hub. The data shows that the city's crime reports are up 15 percent from last year.
It will cost the city an estimated $250,000 for the initial setup and $175,000 each year in operating costs.
At the end of the trial, the department would report back to the city council on the results of the trial. The council would then decide whether to continue the use of ALPRs in the city.
Berkeley police are confident the ALPRS will be a valuable tool for law enforcement, but several groups opposed the plan.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California sent the Berkeley City Council a letter ahead of Tuesday's meeting calling on the council to reject the proposal, saying it "leaves important questions unaddressed and raises a number of serious concerns about the proposed program's impact on the rights and liberties of drivers, residents, and visitors in Berkeley."
Berkeley's Police Accountability Board voted in June to reject the proposal.
