West Valley city delays installation of automatic license plate readers
Residents of the only city in the West Valley without government-funded automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) will need to wait even longer to see the technology implemented.
The Monte Sereno City Council voted unanimously at its Jan. 7 meeting to delay a decision to install at least 17 automatic license plate readers in and around the small city until their next meeting on Jan. 21. Community members and council members were largely supportive of the cameras, but council members wanted time for staff to clarify how the city might be covered in the event of a lawsuit involving the cameras.
“It’s pretty amazing these days that this type of technology exists, and nobody has spoken out really against it at all; everybody seems very in favor,” Mayor Burton Craig said at the meeting. “I’m very happy, because I do really think it brings a measure of security and a feeling of security to the community.”
City staff proposed installing at least 17 cameras in a perimeter around the city and the major entry and exit points. Several of the proposed locations are in nearby Los Gatos, and would add to the 17 cameras that the town already has. According to city documents, Flock Safety, the company that makes and services the cameras, will be responsible for installing the cameras there and getting approval from Los Gatos to do so.
Lisa Shannon was the only council member to express concerns about privacy with the installation of the cameras, saying that sometimes data breaches can occur despite officials’ best efforts – though she said that possibility wasn’t a deal-breaker.
“My feeling is just that this is a slippery slope that we are going down by surrounding our cities with all of these cameras that are recording all of us coming and going,” Shannon said.
When the Monte Sereno council makes its final decision on the matter, they will have the option to approve 17 or 19 cameras and an additional mobile unit to improve the city’s coverage. They will also be poised to decide whether to install the ALPRs immediately using funds from the city’s budget, or in July when a state grant called Supplement Law Enforcement Service Funds will be available to help cover some of the costs.
Local governments, including those of West Valley cities like Campbell, Cupertino, Los Gatos and Saratoga have approved the installation of such cameras in recent years to help law enforcement authorities identify stolen cars and missing people.
“I’m definitely supportive of this because I think that the safety and the security of our residents is what they pay for, and it increases the value of their property,” council member Bryan Mekechuk said.