Newark Council Approves Three-Year Renewal of License-plate Reader Contract with Yearlong Data Retention

The Newark City Council on Oct. 23 unanimously authorized the city manager to sign a three-year sole-source subscription agreement with Flock Safety to operate the city's automated license-plate reader (ALPR) system and approved extending data retention to one year for investigative purposes.

The equipment and program, operated by the Newark Police Department, capture still images of vehicle license plates at points of ingress and egress across the city. Police Captain Julie Macias said the system does not record video or capture vehicle occupants and that "there's no facial recognition technology involved"; alerts generated by the system notify officers and dispatch when a wanted vehicle is detected.

Council members were shown deployment maps and use statistics. Macias said the department recorded 364 ALPR activations tied to police calls for service and that officers used the system 536 times for investigative follow-up during the most recent reporting period, contributing to 21 stolen-vehicle recoveries and 70 arrests, citations or referrals. The contract renewal package presented to council totals $160,165: $40,165 in year one and $60,000 in each of years two and three.

The city manager's presentation noted that an existing regional data platform that previously stored longer retention data ceased operations in 2023, leaving Newark with a 30-day default retention period. Macias and staff recommended increasing retention to 365 days, saying longer retention provides investigative value for complex, multi-jurisdictional crime sprees and for cases in which victims delay reporting.

Council members asked about data access, sharing and audit controls. Macias said only authorized, trained users may search Newark's ALPR data; every search is logged and the department maintains an internal audit trail. City staff said access to Newark ALPR data is limited to agencies within California and that external users must provide a local case number to perform searches. The city attorney said privately owned camera systems are not necessarily covered by the same restrictions and agreed to research whether the city could adopt local controls for ALPRs mounted on private property.

Vice Mayor Little moved to approve the contract and the extended retention; Councilmember Bridal seconded. The motion passed unanimously. The council directed the city attorney to return with legal analysis about whether the city can require privately owned cameras in Newark to meet the same limitations and audit standards that govern the city's ALPR data.

The council also discussed future program growth — additional in-car units and interior fixed cameras were mentioned — and requested future reporting on program effectiveness and the speed-trailer data that records traffic speeds at rotating locations.

"Our officers have conducted outstanding police work with this technology," Macias told the council, citing homicide, robbery and missing-person cases where ALPR leads played a role. The council approved the three-year extension and the staff-recommended retention change by a unanimous vote.