After Roe v Wade: 71 law enforcement agencies sharing license plate reader data with anti-abortion states, records show.

Sacramento County 3.04pm / DC 6.04pm / London 11.04am

After Roe Overturned, FBI opened almost 10 times more terrorism investigations into abortion activists. By the time Roe v. Wade was overturned, Dr. Yashica Robinson was providing the majority of abortion procedures in Alabama, and most of the second-trimester procedures. In the final months, her clinic had been seeing people from Texas and Mississippi.

In 2015, Democratic Elk Grove Assemblyman Jim Cooper voted for Senate Bill 34, which restricted law enforcement from sharing automated license plate reader (ALPR) data with out-of-state authorities. In 2023, now-Sacramento County Sheriff Cooper appears to be doing just that.

Jim Cooper was publicly sworn in as Sacramento County’s 37th sheriff oon December 16th, 2022, and the county's first Black sheriff.

He started working for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office at 20 years old and now he’s wanting to be a sheriff for all.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) a digital rights group, has sent Cooper a letter requesting that the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office cease sharing ALPR data with out-of-state agencies that could use it to prosecute someone for seeking an abortion.

According to documents that the Sheriff’s Office provided EFF through a public records request, it has shared license plate reader data with law enforcement agencies in states that have passed laws banning abortion, including Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas. Digital surveillance — like the Sacramento County Sheriff sharing license plate reader data — is a threat to fundamental rights, including reproductive freedom. States must do everything in their power to protect privacy.

How can one state "own" a person. One state cannot restrict travel to another state because of something they might do. Even if an abortion was obtained in a different state how would you prosecute? The one exception to the rule might be transporting a minor. Even this is suspect if you are the caregiver. "Shall not sell, share, or transfer ALPR information, except to another (California law enforcement) agency" is pretty clear. The police officials that authorized the sharing should be criminally charged under the law.

Cooper says he’s heard the voters and wants to tackle the county’s homeless problem. He’s frustrated $20 million was spent during his time in the legislature and the problem isn’t getting any better. He also says no one can give a clear answer on how many people want help versus those who don’t.

“There are folks in our states that are ok with someone walking around with no clothes on in the middle of the street eating out a trash can. That’s not compassionate, so what do we do with those individuals that can’t make a decision? Leave them to their own devices? That just can’t happen, so I want to be the adult in the room,” said Cooper.

Cooper says because he grew up in the area, he wants to make it safer so kids could play the way he used to. He says while being homeless is not a crime, there "must be some accountability." 

People at the ceremony agreed it was a top concern. Jasmet Hundal wishes the sheriff luck in trying to solve many problems.

“Homeless problems and thefts going on, all these incidents and shootings, so we would love to see these changes,” said Hundal.

Back to surveillance. Adam Schwartz, EFF senior staff attorney, called automated license plate readers “a growing threat to everyone’s privacy ... that are out there by the thousands in California.”

Automated license plate readers are often fixed to stationary locations, or police vehicles, and can collect thousands of license plate images that then are stored in a digital cloud. Once in the cloud, it can easily be shared with out-of-state agencies that use the same software.

Schwartz said that a sheriff in Texas, Idaho or any other state with an abortion ban on the books could use that data to track people’s movements around California, knowing where they live, where they work and where they seek reproductive medical care, including abortions.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office isn’t the only one sharing that data; in May, EFF released a report showing that 71 law enforcement agencies in 22 California counties — including Sacramento County — were sharing such data. The practice is in violation of a 2015 law that states “a (California law enforcement) agency shall not sell, share, or transfer ALPR information, except to another (California law enforcement) agency, and only as otherwise permitted by law.”

When The Bee wrote in May about the initial EFF report, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office Twitter account responded, even though it was not initially on the list of agencies sharing data.

“Law enforcement agencies commonly use information from License Plate Readers (LPRs) to investigate serious crimes, such as homicide, child kidnappings, human trafficking, and drug trafficking across state borders,” the twitter account said.

It is unclear who sent the tweets from the official account.

Similar surveillance more common on abroad, and same western countries. French law enforcement may soon have far-reaching authority to snoop on alleged criminals. Lawmakers in France's National Assembly have passed a bill that lets police surveil suspects by remotely activating cameras, microphones and GPS location systems on phones and other devices. A judge will have to approve use of the powers, and the recently amended bill forbids use against journalists, lawyers and other "sensitive professions," according to Le Monde. The measure is also meant to limit use to serious cases, and only for a maximum of six months. Geolocation would be limited to crimes that are punishable by at least five years in prison.

An earlier version of the bill passed the Senate, but the amendment will require that legislative body's approval before it can become law.

Civil liberties advocates are alarmed. The digital rights group La Quadrature du Net previously pointed out the potential for abuse. As the bill isn't clear about what constitutes a serious crime, there are fears the French government might use this to target environmental activists and others who aren't grave threats. The organization also notes that worrying security policies have a habit of expanding to less serious crimes. Genetic registration was only used for sex offenders at first, La Quadrature says, but is now being used for most crimes.

The group further notes that the remote access may depend on security vulnerabilities. Police would be exploiting security holes instead of telling manufacturers how to patch those holes, La Quadrature says.

It went on to say that organizations like EFF “have lied that law enforcement sharing this information is an attempt to violate people’s legal rights. These false claims are intentional and part of a broader agenda to promote lawlessness and prevent criminals from being held accountable.”

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to The Bee’s request for comment by deadline. On Wednesday, after this story published, Cooper took to Twitter to accuse the EFF of “protecting child molesters, fentanyl traffickers, rapists and murderers.”

In the tweet, Cooper said that the law allows his office to share license plate data with other law enforcement agencies and that “criminals are not aware of jurisdictional boundaries, much less state lines.”

“The bill and this law has absolutely nothing to do with reproductive rights. My record on women’s and reproductive rights has been strong throughout my time in the State Assembly, and nothing has changed since becoming Sheriff,” Cooper wrote.

Schwartz said that the May tweets “surprised us, because we had not sent a demand letter to them.”

He said that he was not aware of any cases where ALPR data was used to prosecute someone for getting an abortion, but added, “We think we shouldn’t have to wait until the inevitable happens.”

The EFF attorney said that this is a “Tale of Two Cities, best of times and worst of times” situation. While the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office appears to be defying the law, another nearby law enforcement agency that was named in the initial report announced that it is no longer doing so.

In a letter to the EFF that was shared with The Bee, Woodland Police Chief Derrek Kaff wrote, “We have implemented a revised protocol that does not allow the sharing of ALPR data with any out-of-state agencies. As a department we are committed to upholding the privacy rights of individuals and reinforces our dedication to adhering to the principles of the Fourth Amendment.”

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