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ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE GENERAL ORDER Effective Date: June 24, 2021  Amends - GO 9.1.8 (May 1, 2015) Number: 9.1.8 Distribution: All Personnel Review Month: March Reviewing Authority: OSB / AIM Subject: License Plate Recognition This order consists of the following : 1. Purpose 2. Policy 3. Definitions 4. Procedures 1. Purpose The purpose of this policy is to establish guidelines for personnel utilizing the License Plate Recognition (LPR) system. 2. Policy It is the policy of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to enhance its capabilities by utilizing the latest technologies for crime prevention and apprehension of criminals. License Plate Recognition utilizes such technology to scan, detect, and identify license plate numbers which appear on selected Hot Lists. 3. Definitions A. AIM – Analytics, Intelligence, and Monitoring Squad in the Felony Crimes Unit of Criminal Investigations Division . B. Captured License Plate Read – Information obtaine d by LPR camera. C. Confirmation – a notifi cation by the original entering agency after a secondary check that a hit by the LPR is valid and active. D. Hits – an audible alert and/or visual signal activated upon the read of a license plate by the License Plate Recognition system that has not been vis ually verified by the officer against the photo in the LPR system. E. Hot List – files extracted from the various law enforcement databases which contain a listing of stolen license plates, stolen vehicles, wanted persons, and other vehicles and/or person s actively being sought by a law enforcement agency. F. LPR Administrator – agency member designated by the Felony Crimes Unit Lieutenant, or designee, to be the point of contact for Licen se Plate Recognition system. G. LPR System – the system in its entire ty, including all LPR cameras, software, and 9.1.8, Page 2 of 4 collected data. 4. Procedures A. LPR Administrator The LPR Administrator shall issue user license s to authorized personnel to enable use of the LPR system . All me mbers who utilize the LPR system shall comply w ith FCIC/NCIC regulations and agency policy. B. Operations and Use 1. The LPR equipment will passively read the license plates of moving or parked motor vehicles using LPR optical character recognition technology and compare them against various Hot Lists uploaded or created by agency personnel . Captured license plate reads collected by LPR camera s will automatically upload from the LPR camera to the LPR database. 2. Agency personnel may only access and use the LPR system for official and legitimate law enforcement purposes . The following uses of the LPR system are specifically prohibited: a. Reading License Plates where there is an expectation of privacy, except when authorized by a court order . It is prohibited to utilize the LPR system to record license plates except for those vehicles that are exposed to public view, e.g. vehicles on a public road or street, or that are on private property but whose license plate(s) are visible from a public road, street, or a place to which members of the public have access, such as the parking lot of a shop or other business establishment. b. Harassment or Intimidation The use of the LPR system to harass and/or intimidate any individual or group is prohibited. c. Personal Use The use of the LPR system, captured license plate reads, and Hot Lists for personal use is prohi bited. 3. Improper or unauthorized use of the LPR system , captured license plate reads, and Hot Lists may result in: a. Criminal prosecution b. Civil liability c. Administrative sanctions d. Agency Discipline C. Hot Lists 1. Designation of Hot Lists utilized by the LPR system will be maintained by the LPR Administrator , or his/her designee . Hot lists will be compiled from agency personnel, outside law enforcement agencies, and/or investigative analysts consistent with the purposes of the LPR system. 2. The Hot Lists may include: a. NCIC Stolen Vehicle files. b. NCIC Stolen license plates and Stolen Canadian license plates. 9.1.8, Page 3 of 4 c. NCIC Wanted persons. d. NCIC Missing or Endangered Person files. e. NCIC Supervised Release (Federal Probat ioners). f. NCIC Nationwide Domestic Violence Protection Orders. g. NCIC Violent Gang and Terrorist Organization files. h. NCIC Sexual Offenders/Sexual Predators. i. DMV Records of Suspended/Revoked Registrations. j. Agency generated Hot Lists or manual entries of licens e plate numbers created for purposes consistent with this General Order. D. Hits LPR “hits” are indicated by a notification f rom the LPR system . Deputies shall visually verify that the license plate on the vehicle of interest matches identically with the image of the license plate number captured (read) by the LPR, including both the alphanumeric characters of the license plate and the state of issue, before proceeding with a traffic stop or other intervention. After receiving an LPR hit, deputies shall run the license plate through teletype to confirm the license plate is still stolen, wanted, or otherwise of interest before taking