Council renews Flock Safety ALPR contract; asks legal staff to review private/HOA camera data rules

The City Council on Oct. 23 authorized a three‑year sole‑source subscription with Flock Safety for automated license‑plate readers (ALPRs) and approved a staff request to extend ALPR data retention from 30 days to 365 days.

Capt. Julie Macias of the Newark Police Department said fixed ALPR cameras installed at city entrances and other locations have been used to recover stolen vehicles, locate wanted persons and produce investigative leads. “There was a total of 364 activations where a police call for service was generated,” she told the council, and staff reported the system contributed to 21 stolen‑vehicle recoveries and more than 100 investigations that led to arrests, citations or referral to the district attorney.

Macias outlined the recommended three‑year agreement amount: $160,165 total, with $40,165 due in year one and $60,000 per year for years two and three. Staff said slip‑sheet edits to the vendor quote would extend storage at no additional cost for the first renewal period; the police policy adopted in 2022 allowed a one‑year retention target but the city had previously retained 30 days because of cost.

The council approved the contract renewal and the recommended retention extension unanimously. Vice Mayor Little moved the contract approval with the added retention language; Councilmember Bridal seconded the motion.

Several council members asked about privacy and data access. Officials said the ALPR cameras capture still images of license plates and vehicle rear images only; they do not use facial recognition, and they do not automatically attach registered‑owner names without an investigatory query. The department reported that only authorized, trained users may search the system and that every search is logged; Flock Safety’s platform, staff said, allows other California law‑enforcement agencies to query Newark data but requires an associated police‑report number and an audit trail.

Councilmember Matthew Jorgens requested a legal review of private cameras: staff indicated some homeowners associations and private complexes share ALPR data with police. The council directed the city attorney to research whether the city can require private actors running ALPRs inside the city to meet the same state privacy and retention standards the city follows.

Why this matters: The ALPR network is a tool the department credited with solving property and violent crimes; however, the council’s discussion highlighted data‑security and privacy tradeoffs and the increasing number of private camera systems that capture license‑plate data.

Speakers quoted above come from the city presentation and council discussion transcript.