A bill that could have restricted how police use and share data from license plate readers failed in the Legislature this week. This comes even as backlash against license plate readers surges across the state and the country.
Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry quietly pulled the proposal on the final day of the legislative session.
The bill would have restricted law enforcement agencies to using license plate data only for locating criminal suspects or missing people, among other requirements.
The lawmakers and civil rights groups pushing for more regulation of the readers point to police misuse of the data the readers collect. That includes stalking and sharing data with Border Patrol.
Last June, a CalMatters investigation found that roughly a dozen Southern California law enforcement agencies had illegally shared license plate data with federal immigration agencies.
Even if the bill had come up for a vote, it still might have died. Nearly 40 law enforcement agencies and police unions opposed it.