Law enforcement agencies across Southern California have violated state law by sharing automated license plate reader data with federal agencies over 100 times last month. The LAPD and sheriff’s departments in San Diego, Orange, and Riverside counties conducted searches on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), according to records obtained by Oakland Privacy and shared with CalMatters.
California’s Senate Bill 34, enacted a decade ago, prohibits state law enforcement from sharing license plate data with out-of-state or federal entities. Despite this, CalMatters reports that the law has been routinely broken.
In 2023, civil liberties groups found that 71 California law enforcement agencies had violated the law. Attorney General Rob Bonta issued an advisory later that year, providing specific guidance on compliance…