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County supervisors vote to take down all sheriff's Flock cameras
montereycountynow.com
Monterey County supervisors voted 3-2 to decline a proposed $1.7 million, 10-year Flock Safety contract and directed the Sheriff's Office to end access to 63 cameras and remove them within 60 days. Deputies had queried the system nearly 20,000 times in a year, with an estimated 500,000 queries by partner agencies. Officials cited earlier improper out-of-state access; the sheriff and district attorney defended the technology.
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Fusion Center Ran Flock Searches on Behalf of Feds, Santa Ana Records Show
couriercalifornia.com
Logs released by Santa Ana police show the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center ran more than 27,000 searches of the city's Flock ALPR network over six months, including at least eighty on behalf of federal agencies such as the FBI, ATF, DEA, US Marshals, IRS and Forest Service, plus an agency in Washington state. California law bars sharing ALPR data with federal and out-of-state agencies. The logs omit usernames and case numbers, and no promised efficacy audit exists.
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In one California town, Flock misread license plates in 71% of the alerts it sent to police
businessinsider.com
Public records obtained from the Roseville, California police department show that of 1,427 Flock alerts flagging vehicles as stolen or felony-related in 2023 and 2024, a department analysis found 71% involved misread plates. Records document missed vehicles, blurry images, and delayed alerts, with repeated complaints to Flock. Flock attributed problems to Roseville's atypical camera setup; state lawmakers called for a reliability review.
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Flock Cameras Got the Wrong License Plate 71% of the Time in California City
gizmodo.com
An analysis reported by Business Insider found that of 1,427 Flock camera alerts sent to Roseville, California police between 2023 and 2024, 71% of stolen-vehicle or felony-related alerts involved misread plates. Flock attributed the errors to older hardware and non-standard camera placement, a claim Roseville police dispute. The city has spent roughly $450,000; the Institute for Justice has documented at least 27 wrongful stops nationally.
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California cops are breaking surveillance laws. Who's going to stop them?
sfstandard.com
The Attorney General's office has sent warning letters to at least twenty California agencies since June 2024 without going to court, and agencies kept sharing anyway. The California Highway Patrol ran an April search across 845 ALPR systems labeled "ICE case," and Sacramento County logged searches marked "DEA Assist" and "ATF" months after being warned.
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California police illegally share license plate reader data with ICE and Border Patrol
calmatters.org
Records obtained by Oakland Privacy showed California agencies breaking SB 34 more than 100 times in a single month by running plate searches for ICE and Customs and Border Protection, including the LAPD and the San Diego, Orange, and Riverside county sheriffs. Of 491,000 queries analyzed, more than 64,000 gave only a vague reason such as "investigation."
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VICTORY! California Department of Justice Declares Out-of-State Sharing of License Plate Data Unlawful
eff.org
Attorney General Rob Bonta issued guidance confirming that SB 34 bars California police from sharing license plate data with out-of-state or federal agencies. EFF notes agencies had been sharing with hundreds of out-of-state agencies, including in states restricting abortion, and with CBP and ICE, and that over 99.9% of collected data connects to no crime.