Rio Vista approves five‑year Verkada camera contract; council directs privacy policy review for ALPR use

The Rio Vista City Council voted Nov. 4 to approve a five‑year service agreement with SafeHouse Corp to purchase and install a hybrid‑cloud Verkada security camera system at multiple city locations, including City Hall, the airport, public works, the police and fire stations and the 4th & Main intersection.

Staff described the project as a needed upgrade to the city’s aging camera infrastructure and said two bids were received (Flock Safety and SafeHouse/Verkada). The staff recommendation highlighted a discounted five‑year licensing and support price (discount valid through Nov. 30) and proposed a not‑to‑exceed amount of roughly $56,396 for the initial installation and licensing term. The package includes automatic firmware and software updates during the five‑year licensing period, remote support and hybrid on‑camera storage.

Representatives from SafeHouse and their integrator, Greg Milligan, explained technical differences between Flock and Verkada: Flock’s common deployments often pair solar/cellular for off‑grid cases and target license‑plate‑alert use cases, while Verkada offers onboard storage per camera plus cloud synchronization and an internal plate‑tracking capability. Milligan said SafeHouse’s proposal leverages existing, reusable infrastructure where possible to reduce rollout costs.

Council members asked detailed questions about software updates (staff said upgrades are pushed automatically as part of the five‑year service), integration with existing Flock license‑plate readers, and the possibility of using license‑plate recognition (ALPR) at one or more locations. Police leadership noted the investigative value of additional plate reads for incidents and encouraged a policy that would allow operational use. The city attorney reminded the council of statutory requirements: ALPR use requires a published policy, mandatory training for users, transparency about data-sharing and public posting of relevant policies.

Public commenters raised privacy and resilience concerns; one resident urged solar/battery backups to keep cameras operating during power outages and requested explicit contract language on data sharing and access. Staff answered that all proposed sites except one (Main Street pole) have backup power and that any activation of ALPR features would require affirmative council authorization and return of a policy to the council.

The motion to adopt the five‑year agreement passed by roll call. The council approved the contract and directed staff and the city attorney to add required privacy protections and contract terms consistent with state guidance on ALPRs before any ALPR feature is used.

What’s next: staff will execute the contract within the approved limit and prepare a draft ALPR and camera‑data policy (including training and transparency portal entries) for council review before activating any plate‑reading features.