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Yes, I want to chip in to support Oaklandside\u2019s work!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Last month, the Oakland Police Department assured privacy advocates they are not sharing data<\/a> from OPD\u2019s surveillance camera network with federal agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But a report by the San Francisco Standard<\/a> on Monday called that into question. Local police departments in California have searched OPD\u2019s surveillance system on behalf of federal agencies over 200 times, according to the story. One prolific searcher was the San Francisco Police Department, which may have broken state law by turning over data from Oakland\u2019s cameras to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and several other federal agencies. In one instance, the California Highway Patrol logged a search of OPD\u2019s system, giving the reason as \u201cICE case.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Never miss a story.<\/strong> Sign up for The Oaklandside\u2019s free daily newsletter.<\/strong>Email<\/p>\n\n\n\n The report has kicked up a storm of concerns from privacy advocates, especially given the Trump administration\u2019s recent interest in broadening its crackdown on immigration enforcement by having federal agents from the FBI and other agencies help<\/a> find and arrest immigrants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, OPD is trying to push back against the report\u2019s findings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Shortly after the Standard article was published, OPD issued a statement<\/a> that called the headline \u201cmisleading.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo be clear, no member of the Oakland Police Department was involved in this alleged sharing of (automated license plate reader) information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Oaklandside obtained and reviewed the data reported on by the SF Standard and confirmed that the San Francisco Police Department accessed OPD\u2019s license plate reader system numerous times for the purposes of helping the FBI with cases. The Fremont Police Department also searched the system dozens of times to help the FBI. And the California Highway Patrol did a search on April 23 of this year, noting only that it was for the purpose of an \u201cICE case.\u201d It\u2019s unclear what that means. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A CHP spokesperson told The Standard it was investigating the search and that if it confirmed any personnel requested license plate data on behalf of ICE for immigration enforcement, \u201cthere will be consequences.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n California prohibits local law enforcement agencies from sharing with federal agencies any data collected by automated license plate readers. These are powerful cameras that can take a \u201cdigital fingerprint\u201d of the back of any vehicle that passes by, including the license plate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Oakland<\/a> and San Francisco<\/a> installed hundreds of these cameras over the past year in response to concerns over crime. Both cities use the same vendor, Flock Safety, which advertises how local law enforcement can share data across jurisdictions. Over the past year, Oakland\u2019s system has been searched over one million times by state and local police. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Federal agents can\u2019t directly access cameras in California and several other states. In May, the newsroom 404 Media discovered<\/a> that some local police departments have run searches on cameras when asked to by federal authorities, essentially creating a backdoor to access. This is apparently what happened with San Francisco sharing OPD\u2019s data with the feds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn OPD\u2019s data sharing request form, we require all agencies using our system to \u2018be in compliance\u2019 with state law,\u201d OPD said in its statement. The department added that it is verifying that its partners who access data from the ALPR system are complying with state law around not sharing with federal agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Privacy advocate Brian Hofer doesn\u2019t believe Oakland can realistically prevent this kind of illegal data sharing from happening due to the immense size of the surveillance networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re giving the illusion of oversight and guardrails here,\u201d Hofer said in a recent interview. \u201cThat\u2019s why people like me keep trying to push back and have smaller systems and siloed databases.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hofer is a member of Oakland\u2019s Privacy Advisory Commission<\/a>, which evaluates new technologies and policies that could impact the privacy and civil liberties of Oakland residents. The commission is currently scrutinizing a new policy that, if approved, would allow OPD to incorporate potentially hundreds more cameras<\/a> into its Flock network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At a meeting in June, an OPD representative promised the commission that the department doesn\u2019t share ALPR data with ICE and that it complies with state law that prohibits sharing information with federal authorities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Last week, Hofer warned<\/a> that these restrictions aren\u2019t bulletproof because there\u2019s a long history of agencies \u2014 including ICE \u2014 using proxies to conduct searches of local surveillance systems. This is exactly what the Standard uncovered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hofer said the commission was never given some of the logs the Standard obtained through a public records request to tell its story. He plans to bring the findings to an upcoming commission meeting to discuss potential next steps. But he also said Oakland should stop sharing data with San Francisco. eli@oaklandside.org<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Eli Wolfe reports on City Hall for The Oaklandside. He was previously a senior reporter for San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight, where he had a beat covering Santa Clara County\u2019s government and transportation. He also worked as an investigative reporter for the Pasadena-based newsroom FairWarning, where he covered labor, consumer protection and transportation issues. He started his journalism career as a freelancer based out of Berkeley. Eli\u2019s stories have appeared in The Atlantic, NBCNews.com, Salon, the San Francisco Chronicle, and elsewhere. Eli graduated from UC Santa Cruz and grew up in San Francisco.More by Eli Wolfe<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A report by the SF Standard revealed apparent violations of state and city laws. But Oakland police insist they aren\u2019t facilitating immigration enforcement. by\u00a0Eli Wolfe July 15, 2025 (Oaklandside.com) Help us tell the Oakland stories that matter to you and your fellow Oaklanders. Yes, I want to chip in to… Continue reading OPD is currently seeking permission to grow its surveillance camera network<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey\u2019re a dirty police department, I don\u2019t think they\u2019re trustworthy, ever,\u201d Hofer said. \u201cThey\u2019ve proven by these queries that they don\u2019t give a damn about state law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nELI WOLFE<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n