Gov. Gavin Newsom gave a $1.2 million loan to the city to purchase license plate readers after Mayor Sheng Thao requested the state's help in addressing crime. The readers consist of cameras that record and recognize license plates and feed the information back to crime-tracking databases.
On Tuesday, the City Council unanimously voted to approve a plan to use the loan to purchase the cameras and contract with a software company to operate them. The data from the cameras will be used to investigate violent crimes, burglaries and grand theft.
Prior to the vote, Thao gave her annual State of the City address, where she doubled down on plans to combat crime in Oakland. Over the weekend, the city recorded its 100th homicide of the year, and other crimes are also up.
Robberies have climbed by 35% since this time last year, carjackings by 22%, burglaries by 36% and motor vehicle thefts by 51%, according to city data.
During her speech, Thao urged the council to approve legislation to install the readers, saying that the technology will help police "collect evidence more quickly, pinpoint leads and identify vehicles."
"Yes, even those with stolen plates or no plates at all," she added.
On Wednesday, Thao applauded the council's vote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. She said the technology will help police track "criminal vehicles" based on make, model and color.
Tuesday's legislation will install cameras throughout the city at "fixed locations" that are still to be determined. The legislation notes that police have identified a "heat map" of places in Oakland that suffer the most from violent crime, burglary and grand theft — where the cameras could be placed — but did not specify what those areas are.
Omar Daza-Quiroz, a lieutenant with the Oakland Police Department, said the department will hold onto the footage only for 30 days to investigate crimes. The technology will not capture people's faces — a concern that had been voiced by civil liberties groups.
Some jurisdictions, including the city of Alameda, have installed "mobile" license plate readers mounted on the top of police cars, but for now, Oakland appears to be opting only for stationary cameras.
The vote allows the city to enter into a contract with Flock Safety, a company that sells automated license plate readers, for three years. The $1.2 million loan from the state allows the city to purchase the technology and Flock's services in the first year, after which the city will pay $900,000 per year for continued service.
Oakland police aren't currently using license plate readers. A representative from Flock Safety said Tuesday the company has technicians in the Bay Area to install the cameras as quickly as possible.
Council members expressed support for the legislation. Council Member Kevin Jenkins said the new cameras aren't the "end all be all" to fighting crime, but are a good first step.
But some community advocates have expressed concern about the use of the technology. James Burch, the deputy director for the Anti Police-Terror Project said in a previous statement that the city and state should instead be investing in "proven violence prevention tactics like job development opportunities, affordable housing, substance use services and violence interrupter programs."
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