Indio council approves expansion of license‑plate cameras, citing recovered vehicles and arrests

The Indio City Council on Tuesday approved an amendment to the city's master services agreement with Flock Safety to add 27 automatic license‑plate recognition cameras across the city, bringing the total to 72.

Police Chief told council the cameras have helped recover stolen vehicles and generate investigative leads: "We currently have a number of cameras throughout the city... we've recovered over 22 vehicles since December 2022," the chief said, adding the system "generated over 30 arrests in 2024." The department's list included three homicide investigative leads, one hit‑and‑run solved, two missing‑person leads and a dozen other cases (robbery, assault with a deadly weapon), the chief said.

Councilmember Oscar Ortiz, who had pulled the item from the consent calendar for discussion, said he had "community concerns about the block cameras" and asked for operational details. The police chief said the lease includes installation, equipment and data storage; "it only captures the license plate and just a small part of the vehicle. Not the people in the vehicle," the chief said. The contract retains a 90‑day cancellation clause, the chief said.

Why it matters: Council said the freeway and thoroughfare placement will help track vehicle movements during events and support cross‑jurisdictional investigations. The amendment will place 17 of the new units on easements along Interstate 10 to capture vehicles entering and leaving the city, and 10 additional cameras at strategic locations in the city, including two downtown, the chief said.

Costs and funding: The agreement amendment was presented with a total lease amount noted in staff materials as $321,735; the city manager and chief said the recurring operating cost in 2025 is approximately $81,600. The initial installment of that amount will be covered by a state law enforcement fund described in the meeting as "SLESSA" (law enforcement allocation); subsequent recurring costs will be paid from general fund resources, the city manager said.

Council action and next steps: After questions from council about expense and deployment, a motion to approve the amendment carried unanimously. Councilmembers voted to authorize staff to finalize the lease amendment; staff will move forward with site installation and vendor coordination, and retain the option to cancel with 90 days' notice.

Public safety and privacy: The council discussion included partners and cross‑city uses: the chief said Indio's Flock system shares leads with neighboring Coachella Valley cities and that the vendor network can produce location leads when a plate is seen on other systems. Council members pressed for clear public information about how data are stored and used; the chief said the data are hosted in a vendor cloud but stressed that the vendor stores "our data."