L.A. County moves to keep ICE away from data that show where people drive

['Staff Writer', 'Rebecca Ellis Covers Los Angeles County Government For The Los Angeles Times. Previously', 'She Covered Portland City Government For Oregon Public Broadcasting. Before Opb', 'Ellis Wrote For The Miami Herald', 'Freelanced For The Providence Journal', 'Reported As A Kroc Fellow At Npr In Washington', 'D.C. She Graduated Brown University In Ellis Was A Finalist For The Livingston Awards In For Her Investigation Into Abuses Within Portland S Private Security Industry', 'In For An Investigation Into Sexual Abuse Inside L.A. County S Juvenile Halls.'] Los Angeles Times 2025-09-17 00:00:00

An L.A. County sheriff’s deputy patrol car at the La Mirada substation equipped with a roof-mounted system that constantly scans for and photographs the license plates of nearby cars. AdvertisementBut after a summer of ramped-up deportations, the county supervisors decided to impose more transparency on who’s requesting license plate data from the Sheriff’s Department — and when the agency provides it. U.S. Customs and Border Protection also has its own license plate readers around Southern California, he said. Maass said even if a county bars its local sheriff’s department from sharing data with ICE, it’s difficult to guarantee the rule is followed by the rank-and-file. An L.A. County Sheriff’s Department patrol car equipped with a license plate reader can scan somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 plates a day.