Public Safety · Crescent City, CA
Crescent City Officials Defend License Plate Reader Program at Town Hall
At a town hall hosted by K FUGS Community Radio in Crescent City, Sheriff Scott, CHP Lt. Castro, and Police Chief Griffin defended automated license plate reader (ALPR) systems against resident concerns about privacy and cybersecurity. The county holds a three-year, roughly $20,000-per-year contract with vendor Flock Safety funded by a state grant; officials said searches require documented justification, the police department reduced AXON data retention to seven days, and CHP cited SB34 legal limits on data sharing. Residents raised concerns about national database aggregation and vendor vulnerabilities, while officials acknowledged few high-profile local cases solved directly by ALPRs but cited utility in locating stolen vehicles and a missing dementia patient.