Salinas, CA Privacy & Surveillance: License Plate Readers (2026)
Key Facts
- Minimum retention
- 1 year before required purge (Sec. 27-04.03)
- Access control
- Login/password system logging name, date, time
- Data sharing
- Only to law-enforcement/prosecutorial agencies
- Use limit
- Official law enforcement business only
- State tie-in
- Must follow Cal. Civ. Code Sec. 1798.90.5
- Adopted
- Ordinance No. 2678 (NCS), March 19, 2024
Summary
Salinas limits Automated License Plate Reader data to official law-enforcement use under Municipal Code Sec. 27-04.01 through 27-04.04, requiring at least one year of secure, password-protected storage before purging and barring release except to other law-enforcement or prosecutorial agencies for official purposes. The city council adopted the article to balance crime prevention with civil liberties, transparency and accountability in ALPR use.
(b)All downloaded ALPR data shall be stored for a minimum of one year and in accordance with the city's records retention policy. 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 ALPR data should be booked into evidence.(c)All ALPR data shall be accessible only through a login/password-protected system capable of documenting all access of information by name, date, and time.(d)ALPR data may be accessed only for legitimate law enforcement purposes, such as when the data relates to a specific criminal investigation or department-related civil or administrative action.(e)ALPR system audits shall be conducted on a regular basis. (Ord. No. 2678 (NCS), § 1, 3-19-2024)
Sec. 27-04.04. - Releasing ALPR data. ALPR data may be shared only with other law enforcement or prosecutorial agencies for official law enforcement purposes or as otherwise permitted by law.
(Ord. No. 2678 (NCS), § 1, 3-19-2024)
Full Breakdown
Article IV of Chapter 27, adopted by Ordinance No. 2678 (NCS) on March 19, 2024, states its purpose is "to impose safeguards to protect civil liberties and civil rights" while balancing ALPR's crime-fighting value against "privacy and free expression," per the findings in Sec. 27-04.01. Sec. 27-04.02 restricts ALPR use to "official law enforcement business" in routine patrol or criminal investigations, consistent with the state ALPR statute, California Civil Code Section 1798.90.5 et seq.
Sec. 27-04.03 governs collection and retention: data downloaded from patrol vehicles goes to Salinas Police Department-designated storage, is kept for a minimum of one year under the city's records retention policy, and must then be purged unless it has become, or is reasonably believed to become, evidence in a criminal or civil case or is subject to a discovery request, in which case it is booked into evidence. All ALPR data sits behind a login and password-protected system that logs every access by name, date and time, may be pulled only for a specific criminal investigation or department civil or administrative action, and is subject to regular system audits.
Sec. 27-04.04 restricts sharing: ALPR data "may be shared only with other law enforcement or prosecutorial agencies for official law enforcement purposes or as otherwise permitted by law," meaning the department cannot hand the data to any non-law-enforcement requester outside that narrow exception.
Violations & Fines
Using ALPR data for anything other than official law enforcement business, accessing the system without a logged password credential, retaining data beyond the required purge point without an evidentiary hold, or releasing data to any agency that is not a law-enforcement or prosecutorial body violates Article IV. The ordinance does not set a separate fine schedule for these provisions; noncompliance is addressed through department policy, periodic ALPR system audits under Sec. 27-04.03(e), and city council oversight of the police department's use of the technology.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
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