Alameda police arrested a suspect Wednesday after weeks of investigating reports that someone in a vehicle had been trying to talk to school-aged children walking to or from school. Officers tracked down the vehicle near Wilma Chan Way and Marina Village Parkway within 19 seconds of broadcasting a lookout alert to patrol units, and the suspect was booked into Santa Rita Jail the same day.
The investigation began in October, according to the Alameda Police Department, after the department received reports describing a person in a vehicle attempting to engage students during school commute hours. In response, officers increased patrols along routes frequently used by students, the department said.
Investigators got a break when residential camera footage captured one of the incidents involving the vehicle. The footage revealed the vehicle's description and some unique characteristics, though it did not capture the license plate number, per the department's account. That gap was closed using automated license plate reader technology, which officers used to identify the vehicle's plate and develop a lead toward the suspect.
A 19-Second Response as Schools Let Out
The case moved quickly on Wednesday. A detective checked whether the vehicle had entered Alameda as elementary schools were preparing to dismiss students for the day, and found that it had, according to the department's account. Police then broadcast a be-on-the-lookout advisory to available patrol units, and an officer located the vehicle near Wilma Chan Way and Marina Village Parkway within 19 seconds, the department said.
The suspect was arrested and transported to Santa Rita Jail. The department also announced the arrest in a Facebook post.
License Plate Readers Have Been Expanding Citywide
The technology that helped crack the case is not new to Alameda. As of April 2024, the department operated 33 Flock Safety automated license plate readers and stored that data for 30 days, according to the Atlas of Surveillance. The city's reliance on the cameras dates back further still: in 2022, the City Council voted 3-2 to expand the ALPR program to cover every entry and exit point in Alameda, a move reported at the time by the Mercury News.
That 2022 expansion was expected to bring the city's fixed-reader count to 14, for 17 readers total, at an additional annual cost of $77,000 to $154,000, the outlet reported. At the time, then-Police Chief Nishant Joshi cautioned that “no technology exists that can promise a reduction in crime,” while arguing the readers could still help identify vehicles tied to criminal activity.
