The Los Gatos Town Council voted to allow privately funded license plate readers to remain on parts of the town’s right-of-way, so long as the individuals who purchased the readers agree to share its recordings with the Los Gatos Monte Sereno Police Department.
The police department along with Flock Safety, the company that makes the automatic license plate readers, installed 17 of these cameras throughout the town, which are used to detect license plates and vehicles to help law enforcement solve crime. But town staff were notified last year of the seven cameras that were funded by private individuals but installed in the town’s right-of-way.
Los Gatos is among several municipalities in the area, including Saratoga and San Jose, that have installed the automatic license plate readers. The seven privately owned cameras are located across Storybrook Road, Longmeadow Drive, Robin Way, Harwood Road, Alberto Way and Twin Oaks Drive.
The council’s unanimous vote on Oct. 15 retroactively permits the cameras, meaning they will be allowed to remain in place in the town right-of-way as long as their data is shared with the police department. Any shared data from the privately owned cameras will be subject to the California Public Records Act, interim town manager Katy Nomura said at the meeting.
