Residents urge Ridgecrest to review Flock camera contract and raise concern after homeless veteran found injured

Two members of the public used the council’s public-comment period Dec. 3 to press Ridgecrest officials on two separate concerns: the privacy and contractual terms of the city’s Flock license-plate camera system, and a report that a homeless veteran was discovered injured in Leroy Jackson Park.

Mike LeCitra told the council he has previously raised concerns about the physical security of the city’s Flock camera system and on Dec. 3 urged the city to review the Flock contract and its data-sharing practices. LeCitra said California Senate Bill 34 prohibits law enforcement in the state from sharing license-plate data with out-of-state or federal agencies but that contract language and observed search logs show out-of-state access is occurring in other municipalities. "I ask the city to please review the contract signed with Flock to make sure it does not grant them a perpetual and royalty-free right to license and disclose agency data for investigative purposes," LeCitra said.

LeCitra also described audit items he said show poor search-log practices — for example, many search reasons he reviewed were nonhuman-readable — and argued that when other agencies expand a search they may be incidentally including Ridgecrest data without the local agency’s log showing those accesses.

Barbara Bain spoke about a separate but serious concern: a homeless veteran who was found in a pool of blood and waste in Leroy Jackson Park after spending nights there in poor weather. Bain said county workers found the man; he was airlifted out of Ridgecrest and her account raised questions about whether welfare checks or other interventions occurred after concerned residents reported his condition. "That man had been living in the park in that wheelchair for the last 2 weeks," Bain said. She urged the city to develop better ways to assist vulnerable residents who refuse offers of shelter and to ensure welfare checks and follow-up occur.

Council did not record a direct formal response or action related to either public comment item during the Dec. 3 meeting; the mayor thanked both speakers. The public-comment rules were read aloud at the start of the period, including that the council may not act on items not on the agenda and that speakers are limited to five minutes.

What happens next: LeCitra said he has provided additional documentation to staff and requested a contract review; no formal referral or staff direction on record was made at the meeting. The council and staff may choose to review the Flock contract or refer the matter to a committee at a later meeting; similarly, matters involving welfare checks or potential police follow-up would proceed through city staff and public-safety protocols if pursued.