Residents press Rancho Santa Margarita council over 'Flock' surveillance cameras and demand transparency

Two Rancho Santa Margarita residents used public comment slots at the council’s regular meeting to press elected officials for more transparency and accountability around the city’s use of a commercial surveillance system known as Flock.

At the first public-comment period, resident Brianne Boyle said she had twice requested the city provide meeting video recordings to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and that she received no response. Boyle then challenged the council’s landscaping and roadway plans and sharply questioned the city’s decision to pay for a Flock camera program, which she said is a roughly $116,000 project. "Otherwise, this is a $116,000 project to violate the privacy of citizens," Boyle said, citing recent media reports that raised security and data-sharing concerns about the camera vendor.

Jacqueline Martin, speaking later in the meeting, raised follow-up questions about Flock’s stated mission and oversight. Martin said Flock’s promotional materials emphasize post-incident investigative value rather than deterrence, and she asked who audits local use, where performance statistics will be published, and whether the city follows data-destruction and secure-access rules. "Who audits the use of them?" Martin asked, noting she could not find updated crime statistics on the city website.

Mayor Beal responded that the city held multiple public meetings on the camera system during the procurement review and that recordings and materials are available on the city website; he offered to provide the specific links to residents who requested them. The mayor also noted that the FBI ranks Rancho Santa Margarita among the state’s safest cities and described the cameras as an additional policing tool.

The residents’ remarks pointed to three central concerns the council did not resolve at the meeting: whether the city has a published audit trail for camera access, whether the city will publish before-and-after crime statistics tied to the system, and what contractual or technical protections the city requires of the vendor to prevent unauthorized data sharing. The council did not take a new vote on the camera program during the meeting.

The council meeting record includes earlier staff briefings and public discussions on the topic that the mayor said are available to the public online. Residents seeking specifics about data retention, audit logs, vendor security practices, and any law-enforcement access agreements should request those documents from the city clerk or through a public-records request, according to the mayor’s reply.