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Residents urge San Leandro to audit or cancel Flock Safety camera contract
Summary
Multiple residents told the San Leandro council on May 18 that Flock Safety's license-plate camera system raises privacy and legal concerns and urged the city to publish audit logs, direct staff to show how the system has been used, and consider canceling the contract if the audit is unsatisfactory.
Dozens of San Leandro residents told the City Council on May 18 that the city should immediately audit its contract with Flock Safety and consider canceling it amid concerns about search practices and data retention.
Dan Finley told the council that Flock has been found in violation of statutes in other states and cited incidents and audits elsewhere — including alleged out-of-state searches of camera logs and lapses in promised privacy protections — and urged the council to "audit the cameras yourselves" and to cancel the contract if the audit results are concerning.
Mike Katz (as introduced in public comment) expanded on the privacy concerns, citing language in Flock's patent and revisions to Flock's terms and conditions that he said could allow the company to retain and use customer data for product development. "That means Flock keeps the data when the contract ends and uses it however they want," he said.
Online callers echoed the call for stronger oversight. Alvaro Ramos urged the council to "drop your contract with Flock," calling automated license-plate readers a form of "profit-driven surveillance" that grants police broad powers.
City staff did not present an immediate response or a staff recommendation to cancel the contract during the May 18 meeting. A public-records request filed by a resident seeking the city's Flock audit logs was described by a commenter; the council did not adopt an audit directive at the meeting but public speakers asked councilmembers to direct staff to show, in public, how the system has been used since 2022.
Why it matters: speakers cited audits and legal actions in other jurisdictions and alleged misuse of camera systems as reasons the city should disclose its own usage logs and review the contract's terms. Several speakers warned of potential uses of the system for immigration enforcement or non-law-enforcement searches, and asked for public transparency about who has searched camera records and why.
What happens next: No formal council action to audit or end the Flock contract occurred on May 18. Multiple speakers requested that staff and the council produce audit logs and consider contract termination if harmful or unauthorized searches are discovered.
