CA DOJ sues El Cajon over automated license plate reader data sharing

EL CAJON, Calif. (KESQ) - The California Attorney General's Office sued the city of El Cajon today for allegedly violating state law by sharing automated license plate reader data with federal authorities and law enforcement officials in more than two dozen other states.

The lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court alleges El Cajon has flouted Senate Bill 34, a 2015 law prohibiting ALPR-data sharing with out-of-state law enforcement agencies despite the California Department of Justice contacting El Cajon's police chief over the issue.   

In a statement, the California Attorney General's Office alleged the practice raises concerns regarding privacy and for its misuse to track immigrants, women who might travel to California for reproductive care, or protesters.

"To protect public safety, you need public trust. As the Trump Administration continues to target California's immigrant communities, it is important that state and local law enforcement are not seen as a tool in furthering the President's mass deportation agenda,'' California Attorney General Rob Bonta said. "When information about Californians leaves the state, we no longer have any say over how it is used or shared. That's why the California Legislature passed SB 34 -- to ensure information about Californians remains here in California. Yet El Cajon has knowingly and repeatedly refused to comply with state law, jeopardizing the privacy and safety of individuals in its community. Today, we're asking a court to put this issue to bed and definitively affirm that California law prohibits the sharing of license plate data with federal and out-of-state agencies."  

Along with the city, El Cajon's police department and its police chief, Jeremiah Larson, are named as defendants.   

El Cajon City Manager Graham Mitchell declined to comment on the merits of the lawsuit, but said the California DOJ and El Cajon have differing interpretations of SB 34.  

Mitchell said city leaders "are trying to protect the people of El Cajon with every tool we have available to us."

The California Attorney General's Office said that as of the lawsuit's filing, the El Cajon Police Department was providing access to ALPR data to law enforcement agencies in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.