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Mill Valley approves 2‑year lease for ALPR and live video camera system; council sets reporting and retention limits
Summary
The council approved a two‑year agreement with Flock Safety for six automated license‑plate readers and two live‑video cameras (not to exceed $50,400) after briefing on crime uses, privacy limits and funding sources; staff will adopt 30‑day retention for ALPR records and a 0–30 day option for live feeds with quarterly reporting.
The Mill Valley City Council approved a two‑year lease agreement for an automated license‑plate‑reader (ALPR) and live‑video camera system after a staff presentation on crime‑fighting and evacuation uses, vendor options, policy safeguards and budget sources.
Police Chief Rick Navarro and Lieutenant Sean McCracken presented the proposal and said ALPR is already used across Marin County but Mill Valley’s existing equipment is obsolete. McCracken described ALPR operation: cameras capture license plates automatically and compare them to law‑enforcement databases (stolen‑vehicle, missing/unidentified persons, Amber/Silver Alerts) to generate investigative leads. He cited local case examples where plate matches from neighboring jurisdictions assisted arrests in late 2022/early 2023 and where a vehicle was tracked leaving the county after a November robbery.
On privacy and policy, McCracken said the department will not use facial recognition and that state law and local policy prohibit sharing ALPR data with ICE or agencies outside California. "Mill Valley PD does not share ALPR data with ICE or any agency that will use the information for any type of immigration enforcement," he said. Staff committed to amending the existing retention policy so ALPR data not tied to an active criminal investigation will be deleted within 30 days.
City staff evaluated vendors and recommended Flock Safety’s cloud‑based lease option to reduce upfront hardware costs. The recommended contract covers six ALPR units and two live‑video cameras for a total not to exceed $50,400 over two years (first year $26,400 including a $2,400 implementation fee; second year $24,000). Staff proposed using Measure C (evacuation funds) for the live‑feed camera costs in year one and equipment/technology funds for the ALPR lease; finance staff said budgeted reserves can cover the contract.
Council members pressed staff on vendor access to cloud data and subpoena scenarios; staff said data is owned by the city, the vendor would defer to the agency in response to external legal requests, and access/audit logs will be maintained. The council discussed retention periods for live feed recordings and directed staff to limit retention while preserving the option of up to 30 days when justified for incident investigations; several council members requested a formal review after one year and a fuller deliberation before any two‑year renewal.
After deliberation the council moved, seconded and voted 'Aye' to approve the two‑year agreement with direction for periodic reporting and policy review.
