An automated license plate reader in Watsonville identifies cars and feeds the information to a statewide database which has been accessed by federal agencies for immigration enforcement. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY >> Over the past year numerous news outlets, including Santa Cruz Local, have investigated how data collected from Automatic License Plate Readers have been used by local and out-of-state law enforcement.

Thousands of police departments and sheriff’s offices across the country, including hundreds in California, have contracts with Flock Safety, one of the top providers of these cameras. 

We have been asked how we reported on this story, and how it could be replicated other places. Reporter Jesse Kathan created a guide that aims to help journalists and other researchers obtain and analyze the data that shows when and why law enforcement searches for license plates in the camera data. This guide does not constitute legal advice.

Most of the records of how the data is used have not been made public. But members of the public can request the data from law enforcement agencies in California under the California Public Records Act.

In the guide, there is also a step-by-step exercise to help guide users through coding platforms R and R Studio. Our hope is to support reporters and researchers in examining this data from their own counties and local law enforcement agencies.

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