Here are 79 Surveillance Tech Policies for CA Public Safety Agencies

By Dave Maas.

Laws are only as strong as their enforcement.

That’s why last weekend more than 30 citizen watchdogs joined EFF’s team to hold California law enforcement and public safety agencies accountable. Together, we combed through nearly 170 California government websites to identify privacy and usage policies for surveillance technology that must now be posted online under state law.

On January 1, 2016 two new laws went into effect in California: S.B. 34 requires agencies that use automated license plate recognition (ALPR) or access ALPR data to publish privacy and usage policies, while S.B. 741 requires public policies for cell-site simulators, a type of cellphone tracking technology often referred to as “Stingrays” and “Dirtboxes.” These policies must be posted “conspicuously” on their websites.

We called the campaign the “California Surveillance Sweep,” and it was an overwhelming success. In the lead-up to the event, we sent letters to the California Police Chiefs Association and the California State Sheriffs’ Association to give them fair warning that we’d be scouring their websites to ensure compliance with the new laws. Some agencies proactively reached out to share their policies, including the Marin County Sheriff’s Office and the Fremont Police Department. The latter of the two even went so far as to disclose that the agency was in the process of obtaining cell-site simulator technology and would enact a policy and post it online before officers deploy it.

EFF’s team located approximately 79 policies through extensive browsing and site searching. In most cases, the policies were relatively easy to locate (for example, they were linked on the front page of the agency’s website). However, several agencies (e.g. the cities of Fullerton, Imperial, Oxnard, Palo Alto, and Riverside) required participants to search through policy manuals hundreds of pages long to find the necessary disclosures. Our volunteers could not locate policies for at least 90 agencies, which we believe could be using the technology based on public records.

We are very grateful for all the volunteers who joined us in person for the sweep and the dozens of others from around the country (and beyond) who contributed to the effort. In the coming weeks, we’ll provide more analysis of these documents.

Scroll down to read the policies of the agencies that are in compliance (or partial compliance) with S.B. 34 and S.B. 741 and view the list of agencies that still have work to do.

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Update April 11, 2016: Three volunteer researchers did not find an ALPR policy on the San Diego County Sheriff’s website on April 9. Today it’s linked on the front page. (Toggle between April 9 and April 11 on the WayBack Machine to watch it appear.)

Update April 12, 2016: Three volunteer researchers did not find an ALPR policy on the Carlsbad Police Department’s website on April 9. On April 12, the Carlsbad Police Department contacted us with details on where to find the policy online. It was posted at the bottom of the city’s “Resources” page, but is not currently available through either the website’s search function or Google searches.

Updated April 13, 2016: The City of Elk Grove provided us with links to their policy, which was live as of April 6. However, the policy is currently buried three categories deep, which explains why three EFF volunteers were unable to locate it on April 9. The City of Coronado has also been added. According to a Coronado police representative, “Our agency is in the process of moving to a new web site and had included the policy, but had not placed it on the current site.”

Automated License Plate Recognition

Central Marin Police Authority
City and County of San Francisco (District Attorney)
City of Alameda (Police)
City of Alhambra (Police)
City of American Canyon (Napa County Sheriff policy)
City of Anaheim (Police)
City of Berkeley (Police)
City of Campbell (Police)
Added 4/12/2016: City of Carlsbad (Police)
City of Claremont (Police)
City of Concord (Police)
City of Corona (Police)
Added 4/13/2016 City of Coronado (Police)
City of Cypress (Police)
City of Daly City (Police)
City of El Cajon (ARJIS policy)
Added 4/13/2016: City of Elk Grove (Police)
City of Escondido (Police)
City of Fontana (Police)
City of Fountain Valley (Police)
City of Fullerton (Police, page 335)
City of Glendora (Police)
City of Huntingon Beach (Police)
City of Imperial (Police, page 294)
City of Irwindale (Police)
City of La Habra (Police)
City of La Mesa (ARJIS policy)
City of La Verne (Police)
City of Livermore (Police)
City of Lodi (Police, draft policy)
City of Long Beach (Police)
City of Los Alamitos (Police)
City of Menlo Park (Police)
City of Milpitas (Police)
City of Monrovia (Police)
City of Morgan Hill (Police)
City of Newark (NCRIC policy)
City of Novato (Police)
City of Oceanside (Police)
City of Orinda (City Council report)
City of Oxnard (Police, page 352)
City of Palo Alto (Police, page 306)
City of Pasadena (Police)
City of Piedmont (Police)
City of Pittsburgh (Police)
City of Placerville (Police)
City of Pleasant Hill (Police)
City of Richmond (Police)
City of Ripon (Police)
City of Riverside (Police, page 453)
City of San Bernardino (Police)
City of San Bruno (NCRIC policy)
City of San Diego (Police)
City of San Leandro (Police)
City of San Mateo (NCRIC polic)
City of San Rafael (Police)
City of San Ramon (Police)
City of Sierra Madre (Police)
City of Simi Valley (Police)
City of Sunnyvale (Department of Public Safety)
City of Tiburon (Police)
City of Tustin (Police)
City of Upland (Police)
City of West Covina (Police)
City of Westminster (Police)
City of Woodland (Police)
County of Contra Costa (Sheriff)
County of Fresno (Sheriff)
County of Los Angeles (Sheriff)
County of Marin (Sheriff)
County of Orange (Sheriff-Coroner)
County of Sacramento (Sheriff)
Added 4/11/2016: County of San Diego (Sheriff – ARJIS policy)
County of Santa Clara (SBISS Policy)
County of Ventura (Sheriff)
County of Yolo (Sheriff)
Port of San Diego (San Diego Harbor Police)
University of California – Davis (Police, page 367)

Cell-Site Simulators

City of Anaheim (Police)
City of Long Beach (Police)
City of San Diego (Police)
County of Alameda (District Attorney)
County of Los Angeles (Sheriff)

Agencies Without ALPR Policies

These agencies were identified as potentially using ALPR technology or data based on public records. However, it is possible that these agencies have not used or no longer use ALPR and are therefore not required to post public policies.

If you are a member of this agency and would like us to update this list, please email dm@eff.org. Include either the URL for the policy and the page where the link may be found or a statement that your agency does not use this technology.

Cal State Fullerton
California Highway Patrol
City of Arcadia
City of Arcata
City of Arroyo Grande
City of Atwater
City of Bell Gardens
City of Benicia
City of Beverly Hills
City of Blythe
City of Brea
City of Brentwood
City of Buena Park
City of Burbank
City of Burlingame
~~City of Carlsbad~~ (added 4/12/2016)
City of Ceres
City of Chino
City of Chula Vista
City of Coachella
~~City of Coronado~~ (added 4/13/2016)
City of Costa Mesa
City of Covina
City of Desert Hot Springs
City of Downey
City of Dublin
City of East Palo Alto
City of El Segundo
~~City of Elk Grove~~ (added 4/13/2016)
City of Garden Grove
City of Gardena
City of Glendale
City of Hawthorne
City of Hermosa Beach
City of Hesperia
City of Highland
City of Hollister
City of Irvine
City of La Palma
City of Lafayette
City of Laguna Beach
City of Los Altos
City of Los Angeles
City of Manhattan Beach
City of Manteca
City of Mill Valley
City of Modesto
City of Monterey Park
City of National City
City of Newport Beach
City of Oakland
City of Orange
City of Placentia
City of Rancho Cucamonga
City of Rancho Palos Verdes
City of Sacramento
City of San Fernando
City of San Gabriel
City of San Pablo
City of Santa Ana
City of Seal Beach
City of South Gate
City of South Pasadena
City of Torrance
City of Tulare
City of Vernon
City of Walnut Creek
County of Riverside
~~County of San Diego~~ (added 4/11/2016)
County of San Joaquin
County of San Mateo
County of Solano
County of Stanislaus
CSU Long Beach
East Bay Regional Parks
Port of Los Angeles
San Jose/Evergreen Community College District Police Department
Town of Los Gatos
UC Irvine
University of Southern California

Agencies Without Cell-Site Simulator Policies

These agencies were identified as potentially using cell-site simulator technology based on public records. However, it is possible that these agencies have not used or no longer use cell-site simulators and are therefore not required to post public policies.