California sues city over surveillance data, warns it can be shared with federal agencies

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit today against the City of El Cajon, accusing its police department of repeatedly violating state law by sharing automated license plate reader (ALPR) data with law enforcement agencies in more than two dozen states. 

The lawsuit comes at a moment of heightened concern for immigrants and women seeking reproductive care. Once data leaves California, it can be accessed by agencies in states with different policies regarding those populations. 

California passed a state law nearly a decade ago restricting how police agencies handle data collected by license plate readers. The camera systems automatically log the plate number, time, date, and location of passing vehicles. Detectives can later use that data to prove an individual was in a certain location at a certain time, a tool they say helps them solve crimes.

The law prohibits state and local agencies from sharing that data with federal or out-of-state authorities, mainly because once the information leaves California, the state loses oversight over how the information is used. 

“That’s why the California Legislature passed (the law) — to ensure information about Californians remains here in California,” said Bonta Friday in announcing the lawsuit. “Yet El Cajon has knowingly and repeatedly refused to comply with state law, jeopardizing the privacy and safety of individuals in its community.”

El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells said he’s confident the city will prevail in any litigation brought by the state about its ALPR practices. He described the state’s lawsuit as an overreach of power. 

“We’re a sovereign city and we’re acting within the law,” said Wells. The mayor said the city does share the data with other states “because they also give us information about potential bad guys who have come to El Cajon. The crime doesn’t stop at the border. We have people from other states all the time that we’ve arrested as a result of this (technology).” 

Privacy advocates and immigrant rights groups have long warned that when license plate data ends up in federal databases, it can be used against immigrant communities. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol have both been found in recent years to access local license plate reader systems, using them to identify people for deportation, court records show. 

That risk, Bonta argued, undermines trust between law enforcement and immigrant residents. “As the Trump Administration continues to target California’s immigrant communities, it is important that state and local law enforcement are not seen as a tool in furthering the president’s mass deportation agenda,” Bonta said. 

Wells described those concerns as “ludicrous.” “We don’t share information with ICE … and we don’t have cameras on Planned Parenthood. We’re not doing that. It seems ridiculous that they would want to take away a legitimate law enforcement tool for a liberal fantasy.” 

According to court filings, El Cajon shared data with agencies in states including Texas, Florida, Georgia, Utah, Wisconsin, and Virginia – all places where reproductive rights and protections for immigrants differ sharply from California. 

Bonta’s crackdown in El Cajon comes just as Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 274, a measure that would have gone further in regulating the technology. It would have tightened regulations on how agencies use the data, including requiring deletion within 60 days and mandating random audits. The governor sided with law enforcement groups who argued the law could hinder criminal investigations. 

The case, filed in San Diego Superior Court, asks a judge to declare El Cajon’s data sharing practices unlawful and order the city to stop.