BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — Bakersfield police said a network of license plate reader cameras is helping investigators solve crimes faster, but expanding the city’s contract could cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. Eyewitness News is getting answers to who has access to the data, how it’s being used, and whether the system is helping solve crimes.
The Bakersfield Police Department currently uses about 130 Flock Safety cameras across the city, positioned at intersections. City leaders are considering extending the city’s contract with Flock Safety, with a potential cost of $430,000 per year.
Lieutenant Christopher Bagby with the Bakersfield Police Department said the cameras provide investigators with more information during criminal investigations. “In the last couple weeks, two separate shootings, our camera networks were valuable in identifying the suspects and bringing swift resolution to those cases,” Bagby said.
While license plate reader systems often raise privacy concerns, police said they are not planning a major expansion of physical cameras. Instead, police said they want to expand the network by allowing businesses and residents to voluntarily share camera feeds with law enforcement. “We intend to expand the network in that way, but we have no immediate plans to continue to expand,” Lt. Bagby said.
Bakersfield Police Dept. FILE
Police said the system stores data for up to 30 days and that information can be shared with other California law enforcement agencies. State law prohibits license plate reader data from being shared outside California.
Flock Safety Public Relations Paris Lewbel said decisions about sharing data within the system are controlled by each agency. “Any sharing within the system is 100% up to the agency, so agencies can choose to share their data in a couple different ways,” Lewbel said. “Number one is they can choose not to share it all. We have a number of agencies that don’t share their data with any nearby agencies, agencies can share on a one to one basis, so a local city may share with their sheriff’s department, because crime doesn’t necessarily know jurisdictional boundaries.”
The company also said its system does not use facial recognition and cannot identify a person’s race or gender. “The flock license plate readers only take pictures of the vehicles in public view. You don’t know who’s driving that vehicle, you don’t know who that vehicle is registered to,” Lewbel said.
Bakersfield police said a network of license plate reader cameras is helping investigators solve crimes faster, but expanding the city’s contract could cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. Eyewitness News took a closer look at who has access to the data, how it’s being used, and whether the system is helping solve crimes. PHOTO: KBAK/KBFX
Flock Safety said it tracks and reviews searches to help prevent misuse. “All misuse is completely unacceptable. We built the immutable audit logs right into our system to be able to capture every search, who made that search, and the reason why they searched that,” Lewbel said.
The contract between the Bakersfield Police Department and Flock Safety is scheduled to run through 2030. City leaders have not made a final decision on a contract extension.
The contract extension comes as many cities in California and across the nation have canceled their Flock contracts or let them expire. In California, Los Angeles and South Pasadena will not renew their contracts with the company. Meanwhile, Mountain View, Santa Cruz, and Los Altos Hills have terminated them. In Santa Clara County, they have restricted their sheriff’s office from contracting with Flock.