Napa residents urge council to adopt sanctuary ordinance and end Flock camera program

Residents pressed the Napa City Council on March 17 to adopt a sanctuary‑city ordinance and cancel the city’s contract with Flock Safety, a private automated license‑plate reader provider, saying the technology threatens privacy and community trust.

At the evening public comment period, Maggie Witt urged the council to “do everything you can to protect the vulnerable” by preventing city employees, buildings and funds from being used to cooperate with ICE and by cancelling contracts with Flock, citing security flaws and data‑access risks. Casey Robidoux said the ALPR cameras create “vast databases of where we go and when” and argued that mass surveillance undermines Fourth Amendment protections. Danielle Cuddy referenced California’s SB 34 and ACLU/EFF reports alleging that LPR data has been shared improperly and said the Flock program creates fear among Napa’s large Hispanic community.

Speakers repeatedly asked the council to remove the cameras and to pursue a formal sanctuary ordinance that would prohibit use of city resources for immigration enforcement. Aldo Solano, a volunteer organizer, said door‑to‑door outreach showed many families in Napa live in fear following recent local immigration arrests and urged a clear local policy to protect trust in public safety.

Mayor Scott Sedgley acknowledged the concern and told the audience that Napa’s police policy (Policy 4.15) governs interaction with federal agents and that the police force is “not trained” to do immigration enforcement work. He said the city does not work with Homeland Security routinely and invited residents to stay in touch with the council and staff while the matter is discussed further.

The council did not take action at the meeting. Councilmembers and staff noted existing internal policies and said they would continue the conversation and follow up with written information about procedures and legal constraints.