The Atherton Police Department in August of 2024 used the town’s automated license plate reader cameras to arrest a person suspected of stealing a car. Similar reports have become common in the Bay Area as police departments say ALPR cameras help reduce crime and traffic accidents. Christine Sellers, a Los Altos resident, said she supports ALPR cameras because she thinks they give cities a united front to help combat crime surges. 

“I’m really happy about it, quite frankly,” Sellers said. “I know the Town of Campbell, when they implemented these cameras, saw a reduction of 80% in crime. And if other towns around you are implementing these cameras, and your town doesn’t, the criminals are all going to your town. It’s a little bit of an arms race, so I’m delighted that Los Altos has done this.”

One popular type of ALPR camera is the Flock camera, designed to take photos of the license plates of passing vehicles. These photos are stored for up to 30 days before they are automatically deleted from the department’s database.

The Palo Alto Police Department has already installed 31 cameras across various high-traffic areas, intersections, and entry and exit points. Cameras have also been installed in high-crime neighborhoods, but only temporarily, due to privacy concerns.

These motion-activated cameras not only store the captured images in a law enforcement database but also create a log of license plate numbers that match active “hotlists,” which list the license plate numbers of stolen cars or persons of interest. 

In the last 30 days, 787,801 cars were detected with 2,393 hotlist hits, according to Flock Safety for Palo Alto. 

Similarly, for Atherton, Jeff Taylor, a detective sergeant for the Atherton police department, said installing Flock systems has led to a significant drop in property crimes in his community. 

“It was determined early on in a demonstration at another agency that Flock helped the agency investigate crimes by providing objective evidence,” Taylor said. “Over the course of two to three years after our cameras were installed, we saw a decrease in burglaries by over 50%.”

Wolf said the cameras Atherton and Palo Alto are using make her feel safer, especially in high-traffic locations. 

“Considering traffic control, I think these cameras are a good idea because the Bay Area already has heavy traffic and everyone has someplace to be,” Wolf said. “There are many accidents and crashes, so knowing how many people are going in and going out could be beneficial.”

Senior Abby Wolf said this system seems beneficial. 

“I think it’s nice that the Palo Alto Police are being proactive about crime in neighborhoods while respecting the privacy of the residents by only putting up cameras when necessary,” Wolf said.

While some have privacy concerns related to the use of license plate readers, Wolf said the cameras are not an invasion of privacy as long as the city is transparent about their placement. 

Though, Palo Alto police have not released information regarding the location of cameras due to concerns that it could compromise efforts to fight crime.

“As the ALPR cameras are a law enforcement investigative tool, the Police Department does not provide their locations,” the department’s website said. “If criminals are made aware of the location of the devices in advance, they could take measures to avoid detection by the system.”

Sellers agreed, but with some reservations.

“The police department does have an obligation to limit what you know,” Sellers said. “But it shouldn’t be the type of thing where any police officer can go in and look at the data. I think there needs to be somebody who’s designated and has been trained in privacy, and that a limited number of people at the police department should be able to access this data.”

However the Palo Alto Police Department has already accounted for these concerns by agreeing to the regulations of California Civil Code §1798.90.5, et seq., and the City’s Surveillance Technology ordinance, Palo Alto Municipal Code §2.30.620, et seq. They also only provide access to this data to properly trained police officers who have a legitimate law enforcement need. 

To provide an extra level of security the city’s ALPR data is transmitted in an encrypted format and stored by Flock Safety, the company that supplied the ALPR cameras, and the data is only accessible through a secure web-based platform according to Flock Safety for Palo Alto . 

Sellers also said it is unreasonable to expect privacy in public spaces.

 “I know that is a concern for some people, but my attitude is, if you’re out in public, literally anyone can see your license plate or take a picture of you or see you walking around. You already have no privacy if you’re out in public,” Sellers said. “So to me, I think it’s absolutely fine if the (plate) is captured, it’s available anyway, and when you’re in public, why should you have an expectation of privacy?”

For Sellers the expansion of these cameras is vital for crime reduction throughout the Peninsula. 

“Criminals are still active, and they weigh the percentage chance whether or not they feel like they’re going to get caught versus what they have to gain,” Sellers said. “And I think (these cameras) tipped the scales towards them being more likely to get caught, acting as an effective deterrent. So my goal is that we keep deterring crime as much as possible with these cameras.”