Report 2019-118 Recommendation 48 Responses

Report 2019-118: Automated License Plate Readers: To Better Protect Individuals' Privacy, Law Enforcement Must Increase Its Safeguards for the Data It Collects (Release Date: February 2020)

Recommendation #48 To: Sacramento County Sheriff's Department

To minimize the privacy risk of retaining ALPR images for a long period of time, Sacramento should include in its ALPR policy a retention period for data or lists, such as hot lists, used to link persons of interest with license plate images, and create necessary processes to ensure that those data unrelated to ongoing investigations are periodically removed from its ALPR system.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2021

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office automatically uploads Hot Lists into the ALPR system a minimum of once a day, with the most current data overwriting the old data. Hot plates added to the database by LEARN/CDMS users will have an expiration date of no longer than 30 days. Furthermore, the department implemented a new records management system with the ability to collect data regarding when detectives use ALPR data. The department is in the first year of collecting data in a multi-year study.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented

1-Year Agency Response

As of April 20, 2021, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department had not provided a response on the recommendations in this audit.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Pending

6-Month Agency Response

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department did not provide a six-month response to this recommendation.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

60-Day Agency Response

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department did not provide a 60-day response.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2019-118

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.