{"id":469291,"date":"2026-09-19T18:58:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T18:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/469291\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T18:58:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T18:58:10","slug":"where-fresno-d1-candidates-stand-on-flock-cameras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/469291\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Fresno D1 candidates stand on Flock cameras"},"content":{"rendered":"

ISSUE | FLOCK CAMERAS: Candidates for the District 1 race are weighing in on Fresno police\u2019s use of Flock cameras, a hot topic of debate locally and in many cities across the country in recent months.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s three-year contract, which expires in 2026, cost roughly $1.5 million in total<\/a> and was initially funded through a state grant. Local advocacy groups have organized protests and petitions urging the council not to renew the contract over privacy concerns, while Fresno police have argued the cameras, about 70 in total, are useful tools for investigators.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what the candidates vying for the Fresno council\u2019s District 1 seat in the November election, Rob Funtes and Naindeep Singh, told The Bee on the issue.<\/p>\n

Rob Fuentes on Fresno\u2019s Flock camera contract<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city should not renew its contract with Flock,\u201d the former federal prosecutor and State Center Community College District trustee said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur law enforcement certainly need effective tools to combat thefts, robberies, and other serious crimes. But as a civil rights attorney, I am deeply concerned with a system that creates a surveillance record of every single innocent person who drives through our neighborhoods. Building safe neighborhoods and respecting our constitutional rights is not a false choice: We can and must do both.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fresno Fresno City Council District 1 candidates Rob Fuentes, left, and Naindeep Singh, right, during a Fresno City Council forum, Friday, April 17, 2026 in downtown Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com Naindeep Singh on Fresno\u2019s Flock camera contract<\/p>\n

\u201cFlock promised Fresno safer streets. We need to know if it\u2019s delivering. I do not believe the city should renew the Flock contract without answers to basic questions,\u201d the nonprofit leader and Central Unified school board trustee said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther cities have documented serious concerns: warrantless surveillance, misuse for stalking, immigration enforcement abuse, wrongful arrests based on flawed data. Fresno hasn\u2019t faced these problems, yet, but we should learn from what happened elsewhere instead of ignoring the warning signs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city has had two years to show the data, but it\u2019s been extremely limited and weak. How many crimes solved per hundred thousand records searched? What\u2019s the actual hit rate? We\u2019re paying for outcomes. We also need transparency. Who accesses footage, for how long, and for what purposes? Is commercial use permitted? Can data be sold to third parties? The fact that the city hasn\u2019t answered these questions suggests they don\u2019t want to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m open to the evidence. But Flock as a company has a track record of resisting oversight and sharing data beyond what cities authorized. Renewal without ironclad protections isn\u2019t cautious, it\u2019s negligent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ISSUE | FLOCK CAMERAS: Candidates for the District 1 race are weighing in on Fresno police\u2019s use of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-469291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}