The Oakland Police Department has repeatedly broken the law by sharing sensitive surveillance data with federal authorities, according to a new lawsuit filed on Tuesday in state court.
It’s the second time Oakland has been sued by Secure Justice, a nonprofit led by Brian Hofer, a former member of Oakland’s volunteer Privacy Advisory Commission. Hofer’s group first sued the city in September 2021 for allegedly breaking SB34, a state law that bars local police from sharing automated license plate reader data with law enforcement agencies outside of California. The Oakland Police Department was also accused of violating its own rules about sharing license plate reader data.
The city settled this case with Secure Justice in early 2024, with OPD agreeing to follow its own rules and state law for using its license plate camera system…