Ventura police report shows drop in overall crime; chief discloses vendor error that allowed limited out‑of‑state ALPR queries

Police Chief David Dickey told the San Buenaventura City Council on March 10 that Ventura’s overall crime rate fell 12.3% in 2025 compared with the prior year while property crime dropped substantially but incidents against people — including resisting arrest and domestic‑violence reports — increased.

“Simply put, we’re here to serve this community,” Dickey said in opening his annual crime-and-community-impact presentation, framing the department’s year of data and new performance goals. He said Ventura recorded its lowest recent levels for many categories and credited a mix of targeted policing, partnerships and private security measures for the reductions in property crime.

Dickey described three broad categories used by the department and the FBI’s NIBRS system: crimes against persons, crimes against property, and crimes against society. He told council that resisting‑arrest incidents and assaults on officers increased by several dozen incidents and that domestic‑violence reports were up by roughly 54 incidents for the year.

On technology and privacy, Dickey disclosed a vendor configuration problem that for a period in 2025 allowed two law‑enforcement agencies outside California to query data from Ventura’s automated license‑plate reader (ALPR) system operated by Flock. The department’s 12‑month audit showed queries from March through September 2025 by those two agencies; the issue was raised to regional partners and Flock in February 2026, Dickey said.

The chief said the vendor acknowledged responsibility and implemented system changes to block any ability for agencies outside California to query data for California agencies. He said Ventura’s ALPR settings are now restricted to California only, federal‑and‑immigration queries are automatically blocked, and the department has added daily, internal audits and a separate IT review to verify there are no unauthorized queries.

“We will not compromise privacy for efficiency,” Dickey told council, adding that if any future audit shows the slightest sign of an external access path the department will suspend the system. He also said the department has purging rules and retention levels set by local policy; for the city’s ALPR system footage is not stored with identifying personal data and license‑plate image retention is limited by policy.

Public commenters and several councilmembers pressed the department on details: how long ALPR records are kept, whether license plates constitute personally identifiable information, and whether any of the reported abduction incidents were connected to federal immigration enforcement. Dickey said Ventura’s Flock system is set to a 30‑day retention policy, does not capture driver faces or other PII in the ALPR feed, and that the department has not received reports of ICE “abductions” in the city’s jurisdiction. He said the department tracks any immigration‑related incidents in its own CAD system and would be notified immediately if federal action occurred.

Councilmembers praised the department’s transparency and accessibility, and several asked for continued public reporting and independent IT review of the ALPR platform. The council did not take legislative action on the presentation; the item was received and filed.

What’s next: Chief Dickey said the department will continue daily auditing of ALPR access logs, pursue an independent IT security review with city IT, and sustain community engagement efforts that the chief said helped reduce calls tied to homelessness and vagrancy.