Policy Text
Policy
425Garden Grove Police Department
Policy Manual
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2024/05/22, All Rights Reserved.
Published with permission by Garden Grove Police
DepartmentAutomated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) - 1Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs)
425.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE
The purpose of this policy is to provide guidance for the capture, storage and use of digital data
obtained through the use of Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology.
425.2 POLICY
The policy of the Garden Grove Police Department is to utilize ALPR technology to capture and
store digital license plate data and images while recognizing the established privacy rights of the
public.
All data and images gathered by the ALPR are for the official use of this department. Because
such data may contain confidential information, it is not open to public review.
425.3 ADMINISTRATION
The ALPR technology, also known as License Plate Recognition (LPR), allows for the automated
detection of license plates. It is used by the Garden Grove Police Department to convert data
associated with vehicle license plates for official law enforcement purposes, including identifying
stolen or wanted vehicles, stolen license plates and missing persons. It may also be used to
gather information related to active warrants, homeland security, electronic surveillance, suspect
interdiction and stolen property recovery.
All installation and maintenance of ALPR equipment, as well as ALPR data retention and
access, shall be managed by the Administrative Services Bureau Commander. The Administrative
Services Bureau Commander will assign members under his/her command to administer the day-
to-day operation of the ALPR equipment and data.
425.3.1 ALPR ADMINISTRATOR
The Administrative Services Bureau Commander shall be responsible for developing guidelines
and procedures to comply with the requirements of Civil Code § 1798.90.5 et seq. This includes,
but is not limited to (Civil Code § 1798.90.51; Civil Code § 1798.90.53):
(a)A description of the job title or other designation of the members and independent
contractors who are authorized to use or access the ALPR system or to collect ALPR
information.
(b)Training requirements for authorized users.
(c)A description of how the ALPR system will be monitored to ensure the security of the
information and compliance with applicable privacy laws.
(d)Procedures for system operators to maintain records of access in compliance with
Civil Code § 1798.90.52.
(e)The title and name of the current designee in overseeing the ALPR operation.
(f)Working with the Custodian of Records on the retention and destruction of ALPR data.
Garden Grove Police Department
Policy Manual
Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs)
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2024/05/22, All Rights Reserved.
Published with permission by Garden Grove Police
DepartmentAutomated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) - 2(g)Ensuring this policy and related procedures are conspicuously posted on the
department's website.
425.4 OPERATIONS
Use of an ALPR is restricted to the purposes outlined below. Department members shall not use,
or allow others to use the equipment or database records for any unauthorized purpose (Civil
Code § 1798.90.51; Civil Code § 1798.90.53).
(a)An ALPR shall only be used for official law enforcement business.
(b)An ALPR may be used in conjunction with any routine patrol operation or criminal
investigation. Reasonable suspicion or probable cause is not required before using
an ALPR.
(c)While an ALPR may be used to canvass license plates around any crime scene,
particular consideration should be given to using ALPR-equipped cars to canvass
areas around homicides, shootings and other major incidents. Partial license plates
reported during major crimes should be entered into the ALPR system in an attempt
to identify suspect vehicles.
(d)No member of this department shall operate ALPR equipment or access ALPR data
without first completing department-approved training.
(e)No ALPR operator may access department, state or federal data unless otherwise
authorized to do so.
(f)An ALPR Alert under the ALPR Program does not establish probable cause for
enforcement action. With the absence of exigent circumstances the Hit information/
data must be confirmed prior to taking any related law enforcement action. Users of
the ALPR system will take reasonable measures to ensure the accuracy of the ALPR
Data collected by Garden Grove Police Department ALPR units. Errors discovered in
ALPR Data collected by GGPD units are marked, corrected, or deleted in accordance
with the type and severity of the error in question. To assist our agency in its efforts
to ensure accuracy of the ALPR data collected, our vendor also employs an OCR
Engine Improvement Diagnostics tool to monitor the performance of its various OCR
engines around the world. Once issues are identified and confirmed, the vendor works
to quickly correct any systemic issues.
425.5 DATA COLLECTION AND RETENTION
The Administrative Services Bureau Commander is responsible for ensuring systems and
processes are in place for the proper collection and retention of ALPR data. Data will be transferred
from vehicles to the designated storage in accordance with department procedures.
All ALPR data downloaded to the server should be stored for a minimum of one year and in
accordance with the established records retention schedule. Thereafter, ALPR data should be
purged unless it has become, or it is reasonable to believe it will become, evidence in a criminal or
civil action or is subject to a discovery request or other lawful action to produce records. In those
circumstances the applicable data should be downloaded from the server onto portable media