Watch CBS News

Alameda To Expand License Plate Readers To All Island Entry/Exit Points Following Close Vote

ALAMEDA (KPIX 5) – There will soon be a record of every car that comes in and out of the city of Alameda, after city officials approved expanding its automated license plate readers program.

In a close vote, the city council on Tuesday voted 3-2 to approve the readers.

Drivers only have six routes to access the island community. The city plans to mount fixed cameras at all those entry and exit points to record vehicles.

Four police cars already have the readers.

Alameda Police Chief Nishant Joshi said the data would be purged after 90 days. According to Joshi, said of the 937 people arrested last year, 494 people, or 53%, were non-Alameda residents.

Joshi believed the technology will help officers locate missing people, deter and solve crime.

"The only time that system would be accessed, the data inside the database would be accessed, would be in response to a crime. Officers would not be able to simply go in and start monitoring and just going through data," Joshi said at a Tuesday city council meeting.

Alameda Councilmember John Knox White was among those who voted no. "I found that they actually are not shown to don't have any impact on reductions in crime, which I believe is how they are sold to the public," he said.

Another Alameda councilmember brought up privacy issues.

City officials said the plan is to get the plate readers up and running at the end of this year or early next year.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.