Camarillo residents expressed concern and anger over the city's contract with an automated license plate reader company during a City Council meeting Aug. 26.
Resident Lynn Dines said she was alarmed with the use of the license plate readers in the community and urged the city to cancel its contract with the company Flock Safety.
“We’re told they keep us safe, but there are increasing concerns that these cameras are being used to create a nationwide mass-surveillance network,” she said.
The city didn’t make any decisions about the contract with Flock Safety at the meeting. Instead, it directed staff for more information, such as alternatives to Flock, potential creation of a citizen commission and review of cameras that may be positioned too close
to schools.
Councilmember Tony Trembley was absent.
Automated license plate recognition systems use license plate reader cameras to take photos of passing vehicles and log the time, location and identifying information in a database. They have come under increased scrutiny nationwide following reports of misuse in multiple states, including searches tied to harassment and stalking.
Other concerns have included law enforcement agencies sharing plate reader data with federal immigration officials.
The Ventura County Sheriff's Office contracts with cities including Camarillo and unincorporated areas of the county to provide provide police services. It said it audited its Flock camera system and discovered out-of-state agencies accessed the sheriff's license plate reader system more than 364,000 times.
The sheriff's office said the audit was conducted to confirm data had not been shared with agencies outside California but found access was permitted from Feb. 19, 2025 to March 19, 2025.
The justification for 299 of those searches referenced immigration enforcement, according to the sheriff's office. The agency subsequently implemented safeguards, including daily audits to verify system settings and monitor access logs.
The city currently leases 25 cameras from Flock Group Inc. at a cost of $87,250 annually, according to a staff report. There are 12 additional fixed-location cameras in the city through the Organized Retail Theft Task Force at no cost to the city. Use of the cameras has generated investigative leads on a near-daily basis, helping identify suspects, solve crimes and close investigations quickly, the report said.
The Flock devices are used to help find stolen vehicles, vulnerable missing people, identify and arrest people committing crimes, said Cmdr. Eric Tennessen of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office's Camarillo unit. He is the brother of the city mayor.
Eric Tennessen said the sheriff’s office has used Flock cameras since 2013. The system does not allow users to search for people, but allows trained officers to search for license plate and vehicle details such as color or type and whether it has a bike rack, roof rack or stickers on a window or bumper, he said.
A crime analysis unit conducts audits of the system, which are now done weekly, he said.
More than 10 speakers raised concerns about the continued use of Flock cameras.
Blanca Ortega of Camarillo said the city should have listened to residents when officials approved a contract to get 15 new Flock cameras back in October last year.
“This City Council chose willful ignorance over due diligence when you expanded the city's Flock camera network last year,” Ortega said.
She added that she was upset the public was not informed that daily audits had been reduced to weekly audits and said the cameras were located too close to schools in her neighborhood.
“I’m not married to Flock,” Councilmember Kevin Kildee said. “If another organization or company can enhance what we do to protect residents in the city, count me in.”
Concern is spreading in the county. The city of Ventura will present information about automated license plate reader cameras at a City Council meeting on Sept. 22.
The Oxnard Police Department suspended the use of the Flock system after the breach came to light in February.
"This suspension will remain in place until we are fully confident that our data is secure and that appropriate searching safeguards have not only been established, but have shown a track record that firmly supports the remediation effort," Oxnard Police Chief Jason Benites previously said.
He said the department wanted to revisit the feasibility of a fixed-platform license plate reader system sometime in the near future.
Wes Woods II covers West County for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at wesley.woodsii@vcstar.com, 805-437-0262 or @JournoWes.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Flock cameras draw criticism at Camarillo City Council meeting
