Anti Police-Terror Project Decries Proposed Expansion of Automatic License Plate Readers in Oakland as Ineffective Tools to Address Violent Crime

(Oakland, CA )—“Violent crime in Oakland will not stop if we continue to invest in technologies that are ineffective at keeping our communities safe. The Anti Police-Terror Project is deeply dismayed to see the Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission disregard the privacy of Oakland residents by supporting the establishment of a system of mounted Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs) across the City of Oakland. 

Instead of investing in proven violence prevention tactics like job development opportunities, affordable housing, substance use services and violence interrupter programs, Governor Gavin Newsom and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao have chosen to waste $1.2 million in taxpayer dollars on installing ALPR’s on state right-of-ways, which include freeways and International Boulevard. 

APTP acknowledges the pressing need for effective solutions to improve public safety. However, we demand evidence-based policymaking. If we engage in a thorough examination of the effectiveness of ALPRs on lampposts, it is clear these technologies are wholly ineffective at decreasing crime, and instead will only serve as surveillance tools in communities already impacted by various forms of state sanctioned surveilling, racial profiling and mass incarceration.

For years, Oakland police have utilized ALPRs in their vehicles, collecting data without specific investigative purposes. The recent deactivation of the entire ALPR network and a subsequent report reveal their minimal contribution to criminal investigations and prove their ineffectiveness.  The Automated License Plate Reader 2022 Annual Report, published in June 2023, reads, ‘OPD was unable to find any definitive cases where our ALPR helped on an active investigation for 2022.’

In 2015 the Electronic Frontier Foundation analyzed the use of ALPR cameras and found that they largely captured license plates from low-income neighborhoods. The data also found that usage of video surveillance doesn’t correlate  with public safety needs. For example, OPD did not use ALPR surveillance in the southeast part of Oakland nearly as much as in the north, west, and central parts of Oakland, even though there seems to be just as much crime. Additionally, ALPR’s capture an intrusive amount of personal data, disproportionately surveilling low income Black and brown communities while consistently proving to be ineffective at preventing or solving crime. 

Finally, ALPRs often mistake identities, resulting in numerous unnecessary and dangerous engagements between innocent community members and armed law enforcement agents.

The Anti Police-Terror Project continues to advocate for data-driven, evidence-based decision-making to ensure public safety. This investment is neither data-driven nor evidence based - expanding video surveillance in Oakland poses a serious risk to civil liberties, is a gross misallocation of public funds, and will continue to disproportionately surveil low income Black and brown communities. The Mayor and Governor should prioritize impact over glossy funding announcements for failed technologies.” 

—James Burch, Deputy Director for the Anti Police-Terror Project and Cat Brooks, Executive Director for the Anti Police-Terror Project