Berkeley adopts surveillance use policies, delays full Flock contract and extends ALPR deal during RFP

The Berkeley City Council on Thursday adopted new city use policies for unmanned aerial systems, fixed video cameras and community video streams, but stopped short of signing a full master services agreement with vendor Flock Safety and directed staff to open a competitive request for proposals (RFP).

Councilmembers cited both public-safety uses and deep public concern as they split the decision: the council approved the revised use policies and referred the broader procurement and any contract authority to a new RFP process, and separately extended the city's automatic license-plate-reader (ALPR) contract for up to 12 months so systems would not go offline while the city evaluates alternatives.

Why it matters: The measures come after a months-long debate over whether to expand the city's camera network and license-plate readers and whether a single vendor should provide an integrated surveillance platform. Supporters argued technologies have helped solve serious crimes; opponents warned the vendor's past data-sharing problems, possible federal access to data, and the risk to Berkeley's sanctuary policies make a full contract premature.

At the meeting, Berkeley Police officials described the proposed Community Video Streams (CVS) program as an opt-in expansion of the existing…