Santa Barbara, Calif.  –  The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office is committed to using technology responsibly while maintaining transparency, accountability, and the public trust that is essential to protecting our community. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office utilizes Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology, including systems provided by Flock Safety, to assist in legitimate law enforcement investigations and public safety operations.

ALPR technology captures images of license plates and associated vehicle descriptors. This information is used to generate investigative leads in cases involving stolen vehicles, violent crime, missing persons, and other serious incidents. Data is securely stored in an encrypted environment and retained in accordance with California law and departmental policy.

California law prohibits the sharing of ALPR data with out-of-state or federal agencies and limits cooperation with federal immigration enforcement activities, with narrow exceptions defined in Senate Bill 54. To ensure compliance, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office disabled Flock Safety’s “National Lookup” feature when the system was implemented. As a result, Santa Barbara County was not among the approximately 75% of agencies nationwide that enabled nationwide data sharing.

Recently, Flock Safety notified law enforcement agencies of a system issue that, in some jurisdictions, resulted in nationwide information-sharing settings being activated without the agency’s knowledge. The Sheriff’s Office conducted a review of its system settings and audit logs and confirmed that Santa Barbara County’s National Lookup function remained disabled and that our data was not shared outside of California. The Sheriff’s Office will continue working with Flock Safety to confirm safeguards remain in place to prevent unauthorized data sharing.

ALPR technology is a valuable investigative tool that helps law enforcement locate stolen vehicles, identify suspect vehicles, and support investigations into serious and violent crimes. It is important, however, to preserving public confidence through responsible use, strong oversight, and transparency.