ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) - The City Council has unanimously approved an amendment to the city’s contract with Flock Group for its purchase and use of automated license plate readers (ALPR) and public safety operating system: a move that came despite citizen dissent.

The amendment passed at the April 8 meeting adds $194,100 to the contract Flock has had with Elk Grove since 2021, bringing the total amount to more than $1.63 million. It also extends the contract length to April 25, 2028.

The city currently operates 87 Flock ALPRs at intersections and roadways. The amendment covers replacing “select standard units with long-distance cameras” along with “reassessing deployment locations to align the technology with various roadway characteristics, traffic patterns and crime data to “maximize coverage, read accuracy and investigative effectiveness.”

All seven Elk Grove residents testifying about the amendment at the meeting voiced concerns about the sharing of Flock data with other agencies, including federal agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). They urged council to table the amendment until more study could be done on the use of ALPRs and data sharing issues, including the potential for hacking into the Flock system.

Lindsey Halsell urged council to pull the amendment until the California Department of Justice has verified Flock is not sharing data, noting several cities in the state have shared their data with federal agencies. She also alleged Flock has made fraudulent claims about ALPRs decreasing crime, claiming independent analysis actually shows crime has either stayed flat or increased where these are used.

“It is reckless to increase surveillance during this era of expanding authoritarianism,” Halsell said. “Surveillance does not make us safer, although it may provide the illusion of safety.”

The California Legislature passed Senate Bill 34 (SB 34) in 2015 imposing requirements on operators of ALPR systems and regulations on end users of the data collected, including with whom the information can be shared. In an October 2023 information bulletin from California Department of Justice, public agencies were reminded SB34 prohibits the selling, sharing or transferring of “ALPR information, except to another public agency, and only as otherwise permitted by law.

Agencies were also instructed to create ALPR policies addressing information usage and privacy. Agencies are required to be publish these policies “conspicuously posted on their website” and contain information on provisions designed to “protect ALPR information from unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure.”

Despite the guidance, ALPR information has found its way outside of agencies where it’s gathered. In October 2025, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against the El Cajon Police Department after it refused to stop its practice of sharing ALPR data with over 100 agencies nationwide.

In January, the Mountain View Police Department discovered during an audit that federal agencies had accessed information from one of its first Flock ALPRs from August to November 2024 without the department’s knowledge.

In a January 30 news release, the department stated a “nationwide” search setting had been mistakenly turned on instead of a “statewide” setting, leading to federal agencies accessing camera information.

Because Flock retained no data from that period, the Mountain View Police Department was unable to determine what data, if any, was shared. The release stated Flock has fixed the problem and taken steps to prevent its recurrence.

The issue regarding the Flock cameras also came up during an Elk Grove Police Department presentation on their use at the March 25 council meeting, with residents also providing comment against ALPRs. Police Chief Bobby Davis defended the use of the system at both meetings, citing safeguards the department has instituted to prevent unauthorized individuals from accessing the data. He also said the department adheres to the guidance from the California Department of Justice in the 2023 bulletin.

“We have not shared, will not share with any federal partners that are out there,” Davis said, noting the department’s systems are protected and one of the reasons Elk Grove has been voted the No. 1 safest city in the state.

“The fact that we utilized technology to ensure that all the residents of our community are safe, we’re able to find resolutions for many victims of assaults, many victims of homicides, many victims of all sorts of crimes that have happened in our community as a result of the technology that we use,” Davis added.

Department statistics show that since 2021, Flock ALPRs have provided alerts on 1,548 vehicles leading to 866 arrests. Camera usage has resulted in 5,293 total calls for service, leading to 700 arrests, 70 suspicious vehicles, 640 reckless vehicle incidents, 536 vehicle theft reports, 1,548 collisions/hit and run incidents and assisted in the search for 93 missing persons: incidents that might not have been discovered or resolved without the ALPR data.

Vice Mayor Darren Suen alluded to this in defending his vote to approve the amendment. He acknowledged the privacy and data mishandling concerns of residents and thanked the speakers and others who submitted written comments for voicing concerns that enabled council to ask questions about the system.

“There is a lot of restraint, a lot of responsible use of our technology that is employed here,” Suen said, adding there is an element of risk involved with this technology. “If we were exposing ourselves in that way, that would be a different conversation, but we’re not, so the risk is very low compared to the amount of good that we’re able to do for our residents today.”

Suen encouraged residents who were still uneasy about the ALPR system to contact Davis to learn more. Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen also encouraged residents to reach out to the police department.

“Trust is built from both sides,” she said, adding she trusts Chief Davis and the department to do the right thing.