Council delays action on proposed ad hoc oversight committee

The Chico City Council voted unanimously at its Sept. 15 meeting to postpone formation of a committee that would select an auditor to review an internal investigation underway into license plate reader data sharing.

Council members agreed that any decision concerning investigation oversight should be postponed until after a presentation scheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 21 by Chico Police Department Capt. Jeramie Struthers.

An internal investigation was launched at Chico PD after a ChicoSol investigation found that federal and out-of-state law enforcement had access to the data produced by automated license plate readers (ALPRs), something experts have called potential state law violations. On July 8, Chico PD paused sharing with federal and out-of-state agencies in response.

At the Sept. 1 City Council meeting, Councilmember Tom van Overbeek proposed an ad hoc committee that he says could select an auditor to review the investigation and ALPR data sharing. He recommended council members Addison Winslow and Mike O’Brien for the committee.

But at the Sept. 15 meeting, after Council discussion, van Overbeek moved to postpone the formation of the committee.

“There are some people in the community who, for whatever reasons, have a different view of the police department than I do, and I believe that they will question any results of an audit performed by the police department,” van Overbeek explained.

Van Overbeek said he recommended O’Brien due to his experience as police chief, and Winslow because of his position as “senior progressive” on the Council.

But Winslow questioned what his presence on the committee would contribute.

“I appreciate the recommendation of putting me on an ad hoc committee, but I struggle to see what expertise I would bring in this selection of a vendor,” Winslow said. “I want people to have either full confidence in our use of this technology or I want us to not use this technology.

“Not having seen Capt. Struthers’ report yet, I’m not sure it’s the best course of action,” Winslow said. But after the special Sept. 21 Council meeting, Winslow said he’ll have a “much clearer idea” of the direction he favors.

O’Brien, for his part, stressed the importance of “independent overview” after the swell of public frustration in response to the news of data sharing, and said he is “willing to do whatever this Council wants to do.”

Police Chief Billy Aldridge, who was present at the meeting, suggested that the entire Council be trained in the city’s ALPR system, and “dig into” the audit themselves.

“I respect the conversation that’s going on right now,” Aldridge said. “But I do feel [the ad hoc committee] is … cart before the horse. We train you in the system, have you dig into it yourselves.”

Retired cardiologist Julian Zener, speaking at the podium, said an independent review should be conducted.

“I think it’s very important to have a completely outside independent review because, to van Overbeek’s comment, there will be community uncertainty about how thorough [the audit] was,” Zener said.

The results of the audit will be presented at the special meeting.

Elias S. Myers is a contributing reporter to ChicoSol. ChicoSol staff contributed to this report.