Tell Governor Newsom to Stop The Leaks of License Plate Reader Scans to ICE and Border Patrol

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Tell Governor Newsom To Stop The Leaks of License Plate Reader Data to Border Patrol and ICE

It's official. After diligent reporting from Cal-Matters, 404Media and The San Francisco Standard, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that license plate reader scans collected by California cops are being leaked to Border Patrol, ICE and out of state agencies with 287(G) immigration cooperation agreements.

Senate Bill 274 will clamp down on this illegal behavior (prohibited by state law since 2016) with practical and common-sense rules like using criminal case numbers, applying a reasonable suspicion standard (as with any other police search) and removing location data not connected with any crime from shareable cloud databases after 60 days.

But Governor Newsom has to sign it.

And California's policing lobbyists are putting up a big fight.

While the Trump administration reign of terror in Southern California and the criminal abductions and kidnappings of California residents are front of mind, there are lots of other problematic uses of license plate reader scans by California cops.

These include custom hotlists (lists of plates that ping when they go by a camera) marked by the cop that entered them as "personal" or with random names like "cookiesandcream" and "gotta-catch-them-all".

A civil rights lawsuit just dropped in Southern California about a sheriff's deputy who stalked a woman he wanted to date using license plate readers. (https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-09-19/riverside-deputy-briana-ortega-lawsuit?).

It's past time for the state of California to stop pretending they can't see the abuse of license plate reader scans.

The Legislature has done its part.

Now tell Governor Newsom to sign Senate Bill 274.

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Governor Newsom

Subject: Please Sign Senate Bill 274

Message:

Dear Governor Newsom, As a California resident, I am urgently requesting your signature on Senate Bill 274 (Cervantes). Thanks to diligent reporting by Cal-Matters, 404Media and the San Francisco Standard, we now know with certainty that automated license plate readers scans collected by CA law enforcement agencies are getting to federal authorities, including those carrying out immigration enforcement like Customs and Border Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations, a division of ICE and to law enforcement agencies in other states, including those with 287(G) agreements with ICE and bans on reproductive care. This must stop and stop now. Existing state law regarding automated license plate readers, including guidance from your Attorney General in 2023, is being widely flouted throughout California. This should be an intolerable state of affairs. Senate Bill 274 puts in place practical common-sense precautions to ensure automated license plate reader data is used as intended and as allowed by California law including: - Removing from shareable cloud databases location scans that have no connection to any crime in line with your press release of April 2, 2024 which stated: The cameras will assist law enforcement in addressing crime while protecting privacy interests — improving public safety while balancing privacy protections. The network will employ a limited 28-day retention period, camera footage will not be disclosed to third parties beyond California law enforcement, and the network will be compliant with recent legal bulletins issued by the California Department of Justice to ensure the storage, collection, sharing, and use of the data is consistent with California law. - Aligning local law enforcement use with standards that have been in place for the California Highway Patrol since 2011 (Vehicle Code 2413) - Identifying bona fide hot lists to avoid the inadvertent use of Homeland Security lists and the improper personal use of automated license plate readers A recent public records request fulfilled by the Riverside Sheriff's Department showed at least a dozen hotlists described as "personal" or "private" as well as hotlists titled "Gotta Catch Them All" and "Cookies and Cream". - Requiring California case numbers so that use can be reviewed by supervisors and/or Cal-DOJ, when relevant and to prevent queries that are labeled as "HSI Assist" or "Border Patrol" or that are from agencies in Louisiana or Texas. None of these reforms are radical. They are totally consistent with standing state law from 2016 which requires a log with the purpose of each query or transaction recorded. Writing "cookies and cream" is not what was intended by that law. These are serious times. Californians are being hunted by the federal government. No one should face rendition to Dijibouti for a civil violation of law. Please protect Californians and their location data from abuse and sign Senate Bill 274. Thank you.

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Tell Governor Newsom To Stop The Leaks of License Plate Reader Data to Border Patrol and ICE

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