06 Data shared with outside agencies by letter, with "no formal MOU"

Benicia’s own ALPR policy (§470.9) governs who else can get its plate data. Notably, the policy explicitly prohibits sharing for federal immigration enforcement — a point in the city’s favor. But the mechanism for sharing is light-touch:

From: Mark Menesini, Benicia PD — September 13, 2022: “Agencies who are requesting to share Flock data must sign the form and agree to adhere to our policy… We don’t have a formal MOU agreement per se. Participating agencies must be approved by our Admin and sign the acknowledgment form.”

And the policy text itself:

“470.9 RELEASING ALPR DATA — The ALPR data may be shared only with other law enforcement or prosecutorial agencies for official law enforcement purposes… The Benicia Police Department does not permit the sharing of ALPR data… for purpose of federal immigration enforcement, these federal immigration agencies include Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The signed letter is retained on file.”

Why it matters: The written policy is relatively protective (an explicit ICE/CBP carve-out), but outside agencies get access via a signed one-page acknowledgment approved by an internal admin — “no formal MOU.” The records contain the policy, not an audit proving each real-world share complied with it. That gap is the thing to request next.

Source: Re_ ALPR Acknowledgment Letter(1).txt (PR-2025-159).