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LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia
@controller.lacity.gov

📸 SURVEILLING ANGELENOS City Council is voting tomorrow on a pilot contract with AXON for Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR’s). At the center of the debate are questions around data access & audits. 👮‍♂️4,000 LAPD employees have access ❌ No independent audits required

LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia
@controller.lacity.gov

The Axon pilot program comes with 30 ALPR cameras installed on light posts to be deployed for 3 months. While this pilot program is free, it’s unknown how much it will cost to implement and maintain these ALPRs beyond the pilot period.

LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia
@controller.lacity.gov

The stakes of this contract extend beyond 3 months. LAPD says that this contract would become a template for future ALPR contracts. If these ALPRs are approved now, future ALPR contracts could be rubber-stamped under LAPD’s current ALPR standards.

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LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia
@controller.lacity.gov

Currently, 4,000 LAPD employees have access to search the ALPR database. There’s no serious process to vet which of these employees actually need access. LAPD requires no external, independent auditing of these ALPR database searches.

LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia
@controller.lacity.gov

LAPD contends that their own audit division and the LAPD Inspector General will conduct audits. To be clear, these are not external auditors. LAPD’s audit division answers to the Chief of Police, and LAPD’s Inspector General works under the Police Commission.