Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Putting the detector before the data

Oceanside PD not yet ready for license-plate reader system

Mobile license-plate reader
Mobile license-plate reader

On April 21, just one day before the Oceanside City Council was scheduled to vote on a purchase order for four license-plate readers, the city's police department was unable to answer questions about the secure storage of license-plate information they intended to gather.

The request made it past the Police and Fire Commission on April 16 without changes because the police failed to properly inform the commission that they were hiring a private contractor to oversee the database; so, the police pulled their request for the four license-plate readers from the city council’s consent calendar.

The 11th-hour reversal stemmed from a lack of oversight outside of the police department, including by the citizen-run Police and Fire Commission and the city council.

“[The commission] is a layer of information, where we bounce plans off them,” said Capt. Ray Bechler of the Oceanside Police Department.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Composed of residents, Oceanside’s Police and Fire Commission advises the city council on public safety issues and suggests changes to city staff. But neither the commission’s own agenda, nor minutes — made available 12 days after its April 16 meeting — included mention of license-plate readers, calling into question the commission's readiness to make suggestions.

“They were aware of the purchase, paid through [a] grant. The issue of the storage was brought up after the meeting,” Bechler said.

Among the issues were the vendor’s access to the data, keeping the data safe, and the police being able to share it appropriately with other agencies.

Bechler said city attorney John Mullen only raised the question of how the information would be stored with a private vendor, just before the city council was scheduled to vote on it on April 22.

“The city attorney kind of asked, ‘Okay, you get the [license-plate readers] — now what?’” said Bechler.

The commission voted unanimously to accept the $133,276 grant through Operation Stonegarden and purchase four license-plate readers. Their recommendation was included in a police department report to the city council. The report served as the sole basis for consent calendar votes, which are typically routine items lumped together in one vote.

Lt. Karen Laser said that the license-plate readers will be on fixed poles or mobile units that can be attached to police cars; they will photograph plate numbers and record the time and place where the plate's image was captured. Officers will have the ability to check license plates against the license-plate reader system hosted by Vigilant Solutions, Inc.

The Oceanside Police Department currently has license-plate readers, but the information stays inside the agency, according to Bechler. As part of a federal program — the Department of Homeland Security's Operation Stonegarden — the new data will need to be shared with participating agencies around the country, and that requires capability beyond Oceanside PD’s current system.

While accepting the Stonegarden grant is on the agenda for the May 6 meeting, the license-plate readers have been put off until an undetermined date.

“These are just one small part of a bigger program, and it’s not going to hold [Operation Stonegarden] up,” said Mullen.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego's Uptown Planners challenged by renters from Vibrant Uptown

Two La Jolla planning groups fight for predominance
Next Article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?
Mobile license-plate reader
Mobile license-plate reader

On April 21, just one day before the Oceanside City Council was scheduled to vote on a purchase order for four license-plate readers, the city's police department was unable to answer questions about the secure storage of license-plate information they intended to gather.

The request made it past the Police and Fire Commission on April 16 without changes because the police failed to properly inform the commission that they were hiring a private contractor to oversee the database; so, the police pulled their request for the four license-plate readers from the city council’s consent calendar.

The 11th-hour reversal stemmed from a lack of oversight outside of the police department, including by the citizen-run Police and Fire Commission and the city council.

“[The commission] is a layer of information, where we bounce plans off them,” said Capt. Ray Bechler of the Oceanside Police Department.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Composed of residents, Oceanside’s Police and Fire Commission advises the city council on public safety issues and suggests changes to city staff. But neither the commission’s own agenda, nor minutes — made available 12 days after its April 16 meeting — included mention of license-plate readers, calling into question the commission's readiness to make suggestions.

“They were aware of the purchase, paid through [a] grant. The issue of the storage was brought up after the meeting,” Bechler said.

Among the issues were the vendor’s access to the data, keeping the data safe, and the police being able to share it appropriately with other agencies.

Bechler said city attorney John Mullen only raised the question of how the information would be stored with a private vendor, just before the city council was scheduled to vote on it on April 22.

“The city attorney kind of asked, ‘Okay, you get the [license-plate readers] — now what?’” said Bechler.

The commission voted unanimously to accept the $133,276 grant through Operation Stonegarden and purchase four license-plate readers. Their recommendation was included in a police department report to the city council. The report served as the sole basis for consent calendar votes, which are typically routine items lumped together in one vote.

Lt. Karen Laser said that the license-plate readers will be on fixed poles or mobile units that can be attached to police cars; they will photograph plate numbers and record the time and place where the plate's image was captured. Officers will have the ability to check license plates against the license-plate reader system hosted by Vigilant Solutions, Inc.

The Oceanside Police Department currently has license-plate readers, but the information stays inside the agency, according to Bechler. As part of a federal program — the Department of Homeland Security's Operation Stonegarden — the new data will need to be shared with participating agencies around the country, and that requires capability beyond Oceanside PD’s current system.

While accepting the Stonegarden grant is on the agenda for the May 6 meeting, the license-plate readers have been put off until an undetermined date.

“These are just one small part of a bigger program, and it’s not going to hold [Operation Stonegarden] up,” said Mullen.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Next Article

Best Sports Betting Sites - 10 Online Sportsbooks Ranked for 2024

Best Sports Betting Sites (2024) - Reviews of TOP Online Sportsbooks
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.