San Diego County Flock License Plate Readers Cameras

[Brian]

Sheriff's office pushes to install license plate readers throughout backcountry
Oct 13, 2024 — The sheriff's office proposes contracting to use readers from Flock Safety, the vendor that provides the readers in the city of San Diego
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/20 ... ckcountry/

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office has released new details about expanding its Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) camera program throughout the region.
https://www.sdsheriff.gov/Home/Componen ... s/3012/514

City of Chula Vista
Flock Safety:
In October 2023, City Council unanimously approved 150 of the stationary cameras. These cameras are installed onto streetlights, traffic signal poles, and standalone poles erected by Flock Safety.
https://www.chulavistaca.gov/department ... aders-alpr

On March 14, 2023, the El Cajon City Council approved a one-year pilot program for the El Cajon Police Department’s use of automated license plate reading (ALPR) cameras to bolster public safety, curb criminal activities, and enhance law enforcement's ability to crack down on vehicle-related crimes. The cameras are built by Flock Safety, a public safety technology company that helps neighborhoods, communities, and law enforcement work together to fight crime.
https://www.elcajon.gov/Home/Components/News/News/5858/

License Plate Surveillance Expands to Escondido Neighborhood
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/ ... 801/?amp=1

San Diego CA PD - Transparency Portal
https://transparency.flocksafety.com/san-diego-ca-pd

El Cajon CA PD - Transparency Portal
https://transparency.flocksafety.com/-el-cajon-pd-ca

Escondido CA PD - Transparency Portal
https://transparency.flocksafety.com/escondido-ca-pd


Riverside County CA SO - Transparency Portal
https://transparency.flocksafety.com/ri ... unty-ca-sd

Menifee CA PD - Transparency Portal
https://transparency.flocksafety.com/menifee-ca-pd

Ontario CA PD - Transparency Portal
https://transparency.flocksafety.com/ontario-ca-pd

Palm Springs CA PD - Transparency Portal
https://transparency.flocksafety.com/palm-springs-ca-pd

San Gabriel CA PD - Transparency Portal
https://transparency.flocksafety.com/San-Gabriel-CA-PD

Costa Mesa CA PD - Transparency Portal
https://transparency.flocksafety.com/costa-mesa-ca-pd
___________________________________________________________
FOIA Request
CITY OF SAN RAMON
RE: Public Records Act Request Received November 4, 2022, PRA No. 22-065
https://cdn.muckrock.com/foia_files/202 ... uction.pdf

The San Jose transparency has a list of "success stories" at the end.
https://transparency.flocksafety.com/san-jose-ca-pd

City of Saratoga Success Stories
https://transparency.flocksafety.com/sa ... unty-ca-so

South San Francisco CA PD - Transparency Portal
Public Search Audit Excel file
https://transparency.flocksafety.com/so ... isco-ca-pd

___________________________________________________________
Have I Been Flocked? - Check if Your License Plate is Being Watched.
https://haveibeenflocked.com

___________________________________________________________

Eyes On Flock
Aggregating Flock Safety Transparency Portal Data
https://eyesonflock.com

Links and Resources
https://eyesonflock.com/resources

Map
Deflock: Find Nearby ALPRs
Crowdsourced map of ALPRs, accompanied with lots of useful information about them. (Also the inspiration for this project!)
https://deflock.me/map

[Brian]

Flock haters cross political divides to remove error-prone cameras
Lawmakers’ calls for Flock probe may help kill local contracts, expert says.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/202 ... e-cameras/

Police cameras track billions of license plates per month. Communities are pushing back.
More than 5,000 law enforcement departments across the U.S. use interconnected Flock Safety cameras to track residents’ movements.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna230037

Surveillance as a Service Part 1: Flock Safety’s Transparency Problem
https://medium.com/@redteamwrangler/kee ... 3efd4f931e



San Diegans Push Back on Flock ALPR Surveillance
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/06/s ... rveillance

License Plate Surveillance Logs Reveal Racist Policing Against Romani People
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/11/l ... ani-people

Automated license plate readers spark slew of privacy concerns in San Diego
https://timesofsandiego.com/crime/2025/ ... -concerns/

License plate reader company halts cooperation with border patrol
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/ ... n/3893179/

California police are illegally sharing license plate data with ICE and Border Patrol
https://calmatters.org/economy/technolo ... ader-data/

El Cajon police and state AG’s Office at odds over sharing of surveillance data
https://www.kpbs.org/news/border-immigr ... lance-data

Automated license plate reader company halts federal pilot programs following data access concerns.
Local police departments, including San Diego, Chula Vista, Escondido and El Cajon, are using Flock cameras to collect evidence after crimes occur.
https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local ... 28c7ba0f73

San Marcos OKs license readers, Safe Cities program
https://thecoastnews.com/san-marcos-oks ... s-program/

Police officer terminated after allegedly using city’s Flock cameras for...
https://youtu.be/OG3m2I6Nieg

______________________________________
Secretive Border Patrol program is detaining US citizens for ‘suspicious’ travel
https://youtu.be/MQxw9fhmBv4

Mass Surveillance Is Powering a New Era of Pretextual Traffic Stops
An extensive network of automatic license plate readers is being used to develop predictive intelligence to stop vehicles, violating Americans’ rights.
11.24.2025
https://reason.com/2025/11/24/mass-surv ... fic-stops/

Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with 'suspicious' travel patterns
CBS8 Video: https://youtu.be/uSnXed5MB74

[Brian]

Judge orders police to release surveillance camera data, raising privacy questions
The judge's ruling in a Skagit County case could affect dozens of Washington police departments using Flock technology.
Published: November 6, 2025

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — Data collected by automated license plate readers used by police departments across Washington state must be made public, a judge in Skagit County ruled on Thursday. 
It's a decision that could have far-reaching implications for law enforcement surveillance practices.

Judge Elizabeth Yost Neidzwski of Skagit County Superior Court ruled images captured by Flock brand cameras qualified as public records subject to the state's Public Records Act, siding with a tattoo artist who had sought access to the data from multiple police agencies.

The ruling came after the cities of Sedro Woolley and Stanwood sued Jose Rodriguez in civil court to block his records requests. Both cities have since turned off their Flock camera systems.

"The Flock data do qualify as public records subject to the Public Records Act," Judge Neidzwski said in her ruling.

The case centers on a network of automated cameras mounted along busy streets in communities like Sedro Woolley, a historic logging town north of Seattle. The cameras continuously photograph passing vehicles and their occupants, ostensibly to help identify stolen cars or vehicles used in crimes.
Rodriguez, an Oregon resident who works in Walla Walla, describes himself as an ordinary citizen concerned about government overreach. He filed public records requests with dozens of Washington police agencies seeking images captured by the cameras. Many agencies complied, providing records that revealed the cameras photograph all passing vehicles indiscriminately, not just those suspected of criminal activity.

KING 5 reviewed dozens of photos taken by Flock surveillance cameras in Newcastle on Sept. 16. The images clearly show the faces and license plates of everyday drivers, not just those suspected of crimes. KING 5 has included the images below to show examples of what Flock cameras capture, but blurred people's faces and license plates for privacy. 
Flock surveillance cameras capture all drivers, not just suspects
https://www.king5.com/article/news/inve ... ceaf477864

https://youtu.be/bJ2rEPMKxxk

Cities Shut Off Flock Cameras After Court Loss
https://youtu.be/1vQn4MWBln0

[Brian]

San Diego Law Enforcement Accessing Private License Plate Readers
Dec 8, 2025

The nondescript black cameras are mounted near each entrance of the Las Americas Premium Outlets in San Diego County, capturing the license plate, make and model of every car that enters the mall parking lot.

“As soon as you come in, it’s in the system,” said a former worker with Simon Property Group. The company is the largest owner of shopping malls in the country, including Las Americas, the sprawling complex next to the San Ysidro border crossing.

At first, he embraced the automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras from Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based surveillance technology company. The former employee believed the ALPR system would help address shoplifting and solve serious crimes that occasionally happened around the mall, like robberies and vehicle theft. And then he realized the power — and scope — of the license plate surveillance system. Flock can help users analyze patterns of movement and potential associations between drivers. And Simon Property Group gave several law enforcement agencies open access to search and receive notifications from its ALPR system.

“If people knew more about it, I would say people will obviously be pissed off,” he said. “Nobody wants big brother watching you on every single little thing.” The former employee agreed to speak with KPBS on the condition of anonymity, fearing professional consequences for discussing company policies. A spokesperson for Simon Property Group did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The use of license plate reader technology has long been a flashpoint between law enforcement and privacy advocates. In recent years, California has established certain guardrails for ALPR networks owned by police departments and other public entities, including restrictions on how the data can be shared. The systems are also subject to public records requests. But those safeguards don’t apply to the many private businesses — including Home Depot, Lowe’s, the Southwestern Yacht Club, Fashion Valley mall and homeowners associations — that give police access to their license plate readers. These private systems effectively serve as a wide-ranging extension of law enforcement’s surveillance apparatus — even though the private businesses are not subject to the same public scrutiny and transparency requirements. A KPBS review of more than 1,500 pages of police records reveals law enforcement agencies in San Diego County have access to dozens of local private Flock camera networks, which include over 150 previously undisclosed license plate readers.
https://www.kqed.org/news/12066349/san- ... te-readers

_____________________________________________

San Diego has 500 license plate readers posted around town. Will it keep them?
UPDATED: December 8, 2025 at 7:07 PM PT
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/20 ... keep-them/


Two years after a split San Diego City Council agreed to install 500 automated license plate recognition cameras throughout town, the technology is up for review — and it’s still controversial.


On Tuesday, the council is slated to look at the plate readers as part of a review of 54 surveillance technologies that police use, which also includes cameras officers wear on their uniforms and SWAT robots and tactical equipment.
San Diego police hail the readers as a force multiplier that helps solve crimes. In 2024, San Diego had 36 homicides in San Diego. Information gleaned from the license plate readers aided in nearly a third of the investigations and helped lead to six apprehensions, police said. Without the technology, a spokesperson said, four of those cases would not have been solved.
Police also note that since the system was launched, they have recovered $6 million in stolen property, including more than 400 vehicles.

Critics argue that the automated license plate readers create a mass surveillance network and intrude on civil rights. And as communities reel from the Trump administration’s immigration crackdowns, many fear the federal government could muscle access to local surveillance systems despite laws barring such.

An Associated Press investigation published last month said the U.S. Border Patrol is using a license plate reader program that flags vehicles deemed suspicious based on travel routes and locations.

As San Diego struggled this year to close a budget gap, critics lobbied to turn off the readers, which run $2 million a year. In June, the City Council agreed to make the funding contingent on its review of the technology.

Several dozen people — including two council members — gathered in front of City Hall last week to rally against the license plate readers.

“In San Diego, our residents expect safety, but they also expect their city to protect their right to privacy,” Councilmember Henry Foster III said at the rally.

The reauthorization of the technology is part of an ordinance San Diego created in 2023 to govern the use of all surveillance the city uses, looking at it through a civil rights lens. The review must be done annually.

That same year, the council voted 6-3 to approve the license plate readers. This is the first time the readers are up for review.

When the city created the surveillance ordinance, it also created the Privacy Advisory Board to review all surveillance technology.


A memo in the City Council agenda packet indicates the board recommended last month ceasing use of the readers unless the department takes several steps, including improving its annual report to increase transparency.

The board wants, for example, written attestation from Flock, the company that provides the technology, that it is complying with San Diego’s policies. It also wants Flock to attest that it has not shared the data and that there have been no data breaches, and asked for routine third-party risk management audits and a comprehensive summary of community complaints.

In a separate memo, the board recommended approving the policy governing the use of the plate readers, contingent on a few changes. As of now, the data is kept and accessible for 30 days.

The board wanted to make the data inaccessible after 24 hours unless a court issued a warrant to access it. And at 14 days, they suggested, the data should be deleted. Police rejected both suggestions — 14 days is not long enough for investigations, and requiring a warrant cannot be imposed at a local level, officials said.


The two memos are saying essentially the same thing, two sides of the same coin, advisory board chair Tim Blood said. “The board wanted to send a message saying, ‘Look, you should not use these things without implementing the recommendations.”


Although police rejected the two suggestions regarding warrants and access, they did agree to accept or consider the other 37 recommendations from the board.


Last month, the city’s Public Safety Committee reviewed the 54 surveillance technologies, including the plate readers, and unanimously recommended that the City Council approve their continued use.
“I have to balance the notion that we need to keep people safe from these horrific crimes and that these tools are helping against the theoretical threat of the federal government possibly violating the law and coming and taking these cameras,” Councilmember Marni von Wilpert said at the meeting.
Seth Hall is with the TRUST San Diego Coalition, which helped craft the city’s surveillance ordinances, and he wants the plate readers gone.


“They are telling us, no, just wait. Wait for more bad things to happen, and then maybe we’ll think about shutting Flock down. But we will not wait,” he said at last week’s rally. “Flock’s unsafe technology is in San Diego’s neighborhoods today, eroding trust today, we need to restore trust in our city.”
Barrio Logan resident Tonantzin “Cina” Sánchez noted there are 12 plate readers around Chicano Park and said she fears Black and Latino communities are being targeted. “We’re already the most underserved communities, but you can put millions of dollars into these cameras to over-police us,” she said. “It’s all eyes on us.”
State law permits law enforcement agencies to search each other’s databases. But San Diego’s strict surveillance ordinance makes the city an island — no outside agencies can directly access its data. Any California law enforcement agency that wants San Diego’s data must show it is investigating one of a limited number of types of crimes. And no one outside of California can, including federal agencies.


San Diego police officials said they are conducting weekly audits of the license plate reader use to ensure compliance with state laws, local ordinances and department policy. The audit also verifies that data is accessed for legitimate use.


The department disclosed earlier this year that for the first nearly three weeks that it used the license plate reader system in late 2023 and early 2024, its data was unknowingly available for other California agencies to search — and nearly 13,000 such searches happened. On discovery of that, the switch was toggled off.
Police also said it had intentionally shared data nearly 50 times with federal agencies last year, including the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, Customs and Border Protection, the Secret Service and the Drug Enforcement

Administration, but said none of the cases were related to immigration. Police said they have ended that practice to come into full compliance with state law barring data sharing with out-of-state or federal agencies.


Flock Chief Legal Officer Dan Haley said last week the company understands that “we’re in a particular political moment right now in this country where people have legitimate good faith concerns around surveillance.” However, he said those who oppose the technology could actually benefit from it.

That, Haley said, is because every time the Flock system is searched, a permanent record is created. “In the rare case where that technology is misused, the evidence of that misuse is right there in the platform, and that is by design,” he said.


He also said there is no “massive permanent database” and noted that the default setting is to delete data after 30 days, although agencies can opt to keep their data longer.


“A lot of the concern about Flock is generated by hypotheticals,” Haley said.

Because California prohibits sharing such data with federal and out-of-state agencies, he said Flock in March carved California out of its nationwide lookup service that allows agencies to share data.

________________________________________________

An SDPD captain helped secure a multimillion-dollar surveillance deal. Now he works for the contractor.

UPDATED: December 9, 2025

The last major assignment in a decades-long career with the San Diego Police Department had Capt. Jeff Jordon overseeing the city’s use of surveillance technology to help fight crime.

As a captain in charge of special projects and legislative affairs, Jordon was the department’s point person for implementing the so-called smart streetlights — a network of cameras across the city that record cars as they pass by.

Before he retired from the San Diego Police Department in April, when Mayor Todd Gloria declared the occasion Jeffrey Jordon Day, the outgoing captain helped select Flock Safety to run the city’s multimillion-dollar surveillance system.

Within three months of leaving public service, Jordon was hired by Flock Safety to help it win even more police contracts.

As the company’s strategic relations manager, Jordon is “committed to facilitating the growth of Flock Safety and enhancing community safety by utilizing technology to support law enforcement agencies in solving more crime,” his LinkedIn profile says.

Flock Safety was awarded a $3.5 million city contract in December 2023, in part on Jordon’s research and recommendation. Late last year, the city approved another nearly $1.5 million for services through calendar year 2025.

Jordon did not respond to multiple requests for comment on his new job.

The San Diego Police Department said in a statement that there are rules governing how former city employees can engage with their new employer and the city in their new roles, particularly if they have previously interacted with company officials.

“It is their responsibility to understand these rules and comply with them,” spokesperson Ashley Nicholes said by email. “The department also ensures that we follow any guidelines for engagement with the former employer as it relates to their new employer.”

Bryn Kirvin, executive director of the San Diego Ethics Commission, said city employees are not allowed to use their positions to influence a decision that involves the interests of a person with whom they or an immediate family member are seeking or negotiating a future job.

“The prohibition does not prevent employees from seeking future employment; it just requires them to recuse themselves from matters that involve their prospective employer’s interests,” she said by email.

San Diego ethics rules also prohibit former employees from lobbying the city for one year after leaving — a “cooling off” period. But Jordon does not appear to be lobbying current city officials, based on recent disclosures.

Nonetheless, the arrangement has bothered some good-government activists, who say too many public officials accept paid positions with companies they formerly worked with as government employees.

“It may not be illegal, but there is no way for us to know if these officers are being paid,” said Seth Hall, a co-founder of the San Diego Privacy community group that has fought to revoke the Flock Safety contract.

“It makes me wonder about the people who are now in front of the City Council making the argument for Flock,” he added. “I am not getting a lot of pro-con analysis. They are making a full-throated pitch for Flock.”

Flock Safety, which has been fighting multiple lawsuits alleging its technology violates constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, has a record of paying public officials in jurisdictions where they do business.

According to a July deposition from a police captain in Norfolk, Va., where Flock Safety technology is being challenged in federal court, the company paid multiple department employees when its equipment was installed.

“They wanted police officers there with the installer,” Norfolk police Capt. Charles Thomas said in a deposition filed in a Virginia court. “So I along with several other police officers worked for them as, I guess you would say, a private contractor.”

Nicholes, the San Diego police spokesperson, said no city employees had been paid by Flock to install its cameras here.

There is no public record of Jordon accepting any payments from Flock Safety before he was hired by the technology firm.

According to his most recent statements of economic interest, the only outside income Jordon received was from a rental property he owns and from teaching classes at the University of San Diego.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/20 ... ontractor/

[mike]

Those are unconstitutional and go against the 4th Amendment unlawful search and seizure that is why I recommend stealth veil for plates and lights for motorcycles and other vehicles with that the cameras will be useless and they can only see the plates with the naked eye plunging them back to the 1980s while protecting our 4th Amendment from those enemy departments..

And to note another reason I have zero respect for any PD in San Diego county all ways shape and form is reason one all the encryption to keep everyone in the dark no transparency when they work for we the people, and also their lack of interest in arresting child predators and the DA not taking People Vs Predators cases that corrupt woke DA protects child predators.

[mike]

Time to order encryption be turned off dispatch channels.

Another good reason to use stealth veil on plates and lights so the cameras can't pick them up or the vehicle and protect the 4th Amendment rights of the people against unlawful search and seizure with the veil they can only read the plates and get vehicle info with the naked eye these tyrannical police agencies are quickly becoming enemies of the people when a long train of abuses and usurpations it is our right and duty to throw off and abolish such government and take it all back and get in people who work for us the way it is supposed to be and do what we want we are the government another reason we have the 2nd Amendment also arm up in case tyrannical government and we can also form militias to secure a free state.



Good to know and not to go near there without plate protection like stealth veil or camera blocking plate covers to protect our 4th Amendment rights.

[mike]

They are a major threat to our privacy and violate the 4th Amendment unlawful search and seizure.

[Brian]

Eugene Police terminates Flock Safety contract, Springfield Police to cover cameras pending removal.
Anti-Flock advocacy group "Eyes off Eugene" reacts to Eugene and Springfield police departments announcements
https://youtu.be/AJWISpH9R5s

[mike]

We need to get them shut down nationwide police have become the enemy and proved that with encryption for one along with violating the rights of the people they serve and work for we need to get all of those radios back that belong to us also.