ACLU Sues City, SDPD to Halt Automated License Plate Reader Program, Calling It Unconstitutional Mass Surveillance

The ACLU Foundation of San Diego and Imperial Counties filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the City of San Diego and the San Diego Police Department, seeking to shut down the city's automated license plate reader network and delete all data the cameras have collected.

The suit, filed on behalf of the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA), argues that the city's network of at least 500 Flock Safety ALPR cameras amounts to unconstitutional mass surveillance under the California Constitution.

"The City of San Diego and the San Diego Police Department's ALPR system is an invasive, around-the-clock mass surveillance technology that can reveal intimate details of a person's life," said Samantha Itazawa, advancing justice staff attorney at the ACLUF-SDIC. "This information can demonstrate travel patterns of individuals as they go to work, drop their children off at school, or attend a house of worship, doctor's office or protest."

According to the complaint, SDPD retains ALPR location and identifying data for 30 days and conducted nearly 250,000 retrospective searches of the database last year. The plaintiffs argue this retention period allows the department to reconstruct detailed movement patterns of residents across the city.

"We live in a country where families are being ripped apart by masked agents, immigrants and trans folks are being villainized by the federal government, and people are being prosecuted for simply seeking health care," said Frederick Carroll, legal director at the ACLUF-SDIC. "The city's ALPR system is a dangerous tool which can aid this harmful agenda."

Homayra Yusufi, senior policy strategist at PANA, tied the lawsuit to concerns about federal immigration enforcement: "As San Diego faces unprecedented kidnappings by ICE, and our ability to protest gets stifled day-by-day, we must recognize that flawed surveillance technologies like ALPRs put us all at risk."

The lawsuit notes that San Diego has the fifth-densest network of ALPR cameras of any city in the nation. It also cites the recent wrongful arrests of two men based on an ALPR hit despite being five miles from the scene of an alleged crime.

An SDPD spokesperson said the department could not comment on pending litigation. The San Diego City Attorney's Office also declined to comment. Mayor Todd Gloria's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit seeks declaratory and injunctive relief requiring the city to cease its use of ALPR technology, uninstall all Flock and related cameras, and delete all data collected by the cameras.