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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-02-19; Automated License Plate Reader Audit (Districts - All); Calderwood, ChristieTo the members of th e: ITY COUNCIL oa J.kcA ✓ cc✓ CM _£DCM (3) ~ Council Memorandum February 19, 2026 To: From: Via: Re: Honorable Mayor Blackburn and Members of the City Council Christie Calderwood, Chief of~·ce Geoff Patnoe, City Manager ~· Automated License Plate Re Audit (Districts -All) {city of Carlsbad Memo ID# 2026005 This memorandum provides information discovered during the most recent Police Department audit into the Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) system and the discovery of how misspelling the word Marin County unintentionally added Martin County (Florida) to the list of departments with authorized agency access to the department's ALPR information. Although this error occurred as a result of a typo, an investigation confirmed that no data from the Carlsbad Police Department's ALPR system was ever accessed or shared with an agency outside of California. Further mitigations have been put in place to ensure this human error does not occur in the future, however, this discovery also confirms that the Police Department's frequent audits of the ALPR program are not only working but they continue to confirm the department remains compliant with state law. Background California Civil Code Section 1798.90.SS(b) prohibits California law enforcement agencies from sharing ALPR information with private entities or out-of-state or federal agencies, including out- of-state and federal law enforcement agencies. This prohibition applies to ALPR database(s) that law enforcement agencies access through private or public vendors who maintain ALPR information collected from multiple databases and/or public agencies. The Police Department conducts monthly audits into the usage of the ALPR system. These audits are conducted by the Lieutenant overseeing the ALPR system. There is also a bi-annual audit by the Professional Standards and Services Bureau Lieutenant. Discussion During the most recent ALPR audit, which was conducted this month, the newly assigned Lieutenant overseeing the ALPR system discovered that the prior ALPR system Lieutenant had inadvertently approved Florida's Martin County to have access to our data within the Motorola Vigilant ALPR system, assuming they were authorizing Marin County in California. It was discovered upon further review with Motorola that even though the Martin County Sheriff's Office had inadvertently been approved, the Martin County Sheriff's Office did not view, obtain or share any of our data. Police Department 2560 Orion Way I Carlsbad, CA 92010 I 442-339-2216 t Council Memo -Automated License Plate Reader Audit (Districts -All) February 19, 2026 Page 2 During the investigation into how and why this occurred, the following was confirmed: • The ALPR Lieutenant that approved the request to share with the Martin County Sheriff's Office misread the request as Marin County Sheriff's Office, which is a California law enforcement agency. • The access was first given on May 6, 2025. • The ALPR Lieutenant conducted the audit each month under the impression that what they had approved was the Marin County Sheriff's Office in the state of California. This was a human error. All other out-of-state law enforcement agencies requesting access had been denied. • The Professional Standards and Services Bureau Lieutenant also missed this during their bi-annual audit in July 2025. • During the Flock inquiry in December of 2025, the memos from both the ALPR Lieutenant and the audit memos from the Professional Standards and Services Bureau Lieutenant were completed up until November 2025 and they had not realized that Martin was misread as Marin. The Flock Council memo submitted in December of 2025 was using data from the two Lieutenants and their audits. The data in the December 2025 Flock memo is still accurate. No data from the Carlsbad Police Department's ALPR system was ever obtained. • Upon realizing that the error had occurred, the new ALPR Lieutenant immediately turned off access for Martin County Sheriff's Office. • The ALPR Lieutenant contacted Motorola Solutions, West Coast Region Training Specialist (Lee Yonemura) to conduct a more in-depth audit on whether the Martin County Sheriff's Office in Florida accessed Carlsbad Police Department's ALPR data. The audit determined that the Carlsbad Police Department did not share or transfer ALPR information to Martin County Sheriff's Office while they had access to the ALPR system. • It is common for out-of-state agencies that are not bound by California state law to send requests to other law enforcement agencies for access to their ALPR systems for criminal investigations in the event that the agency has a future crime case that may be solved via the ALPR system. • In February 2026, the Professional Standards and Services Division Lieutenant completed their audit of the June 2025 -December 2025 time frame and has confirmed that the error of giving access to an out-of-state agency has been rectified. Next Steps To mitigate human errors in the Motorola Solutions software, automatic denials have been deployed for share requests that come in from agencies outside of California. This auto-denial was not an option when the department first obtained the Motorola Solutions software. Out-of- state requests will not reach our ALPR Lieutenant as a request for approval because they will now automatically be denied in the system. Council Memo -Automated License Plate Reader Audit (Districts -All) February 19, 2026 Page 3 The Police Department will continue to conduct monthly audits and bi-annual audits, and as of February 2026, the monthly list of agencies that the Police Department's Motorola ALPR system shares with, will also be reviewed by the Support Operations Captain, providing another layer of audit. In addition, the Police Department will also share any finding or anomaly (even typos) discovered from any audit directly with the City Manager so that information can be shared with the City Council. cc: Sheila Cobian, Assistant City Manager Cindie McMahon, City Attorney Jennifer True, Senior Assistant City Attorney Reid Shipley, Assistant Chief of Police