Residents press council over Flock license-plate cameras, call for town-hall
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Summary
Multiple Ridgecrest residents raised privacy, procurement, and transparency concerns about the city's Flock license-plate camera deployment and announced a public town hall; commenters alleged missing contract edits and questioned data-sharing and permit practices.
Residents at the Feb. 4 Ridgecrest City Council meeting urged the city to reconsider its deployment of Flock AI-powered license-plate readers and called for greater transparency and oversight.
Mike LeCitro, a Ridgecrest resident, detailed procurement and operational concerns, saying the system was rapidly introduced after an initial memorandum of understanding in April 2023 and that promised contract edits were not included in later signed documents. He urged attendance at a town hall on Saturday at 9 a.m. to discuss the system.
LeCitro said many camera installations are on private property and raised questions about permitting and property-owner consent. "At least 11 of the cameras are on private property and need hardware to be constructed on-site... one of the property owners is an investment LLC, and it's hard to contact the actual person who owns it," he said, urging staff to answer those questions at the town hall.
He also referenced reports from other California cities that paused or disabled their Flock systems over data-access concerns, citing an example in which a city learned a camera had been accessed by several federal agencies. LeCitro encouraged residents to review documentation online and to press the council for answers.
Council members noted the town-hall and encouraged public engagement; no formal council action was taken during the meeting on Flock.
What happens next: town-hall scheduled for Saturday at 9 a.m. will be the immediate venue for follow-up; staff and council did not announce any immediate policy changes during the Feb. 4 meeting.
