\u201cMass surveillance does not keep us safe, it keeps us afraid and endangers all of our visitors to our beloved San Jose,\u201d Kimberly Woo, an organizer with SIREN, said at a Wednesday rally. \u201cReal public safety comes from investing in people, strengthening communities, protecting the rights and dignity of all residents.\u201d<\/p>\n
The SJPD officer was fired in April after a yearlong investigation that found he had illicitly accessed license plate reader data on his phone, according to the Mercury News<\/a>. The police department was first informed of the incident in February 2025 after the woman reported that the man knew her whereabouts.<\/p>\n City officials have repeatedly reassured<\/a> residents that Flock cameras are safe and secure, despite incidents that point to the contrary. In March, while the investigation was ongoing, Police Chief Paul Joseph told the City Council that \u201cour audits have shown that our license plate reader data has not gone anywhere it isn\u2019t supposed to go.\u201d<\/p>\n Deputy Police Chief Macedonio Zuniga said he couldn\u2019t address why Joseph was not forthcoming about the investigation.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t speak to what was occurring at the time or where this investigation was at the time,\u201d Zuniga told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n Advocates said these incidents breach public trust and spell a lack of transparency within SJPD.<\/p>\n \u201cThe city\u2019s reliance on these cameras creates new threats, and there\u2019s no amount of safeguards that can truly eliminate the possibility of abuse,\u201d Woo said.<\/p>\n City officials are considering ways to create more safeguards for automatic license plate readers, after tightening controls<\/a> once already earlier this year. Two separate proposals \u2014 one put forth by Mayor Matt Mahan, Vice Mayor Pam Foley and Councilmembers Domingo Candelas and George Casey, and another written by Councilmembers Rosemary Kamei, Anthony Tordillos, David Cohen and Michael Mulcahy \u2014 aim to make it harder for city employees to use personal devices to access data from license plate readers. They would also expand audits designed to catch illicit searches.<\/p>\n At the San Jose Rules and Open Government Committee meeting on Wednesday, the five councilmembers on the committee unanimously voted to have staff analyze the work needed to bring the proposals forward, and bring it back to the committee in a few weeks time. Then the policy will go before the full council to vote on its implementation.<\/p>\n Foley said the memos do not address the demands advocates have to cover the cameras and end the Flock contract since city council makes the final decision, not the rules committee.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t express enough how concerned we are about the breach, so I look forward to having this formal discussion with council and how we\u2019re going to move forward, and with the police chief present because his input is important as well,\u201d Foley said at the meeting. \u201cWe did listen to him in March, and we had established guardrails that we all thought would be successful. Turns out, they weren\u2019t, and it\u2019s very, very alarming.\u201d<\/p>\n In March, councilmembers adopted a range of new safeguards<\/a> for San Jose\u2019s network of 474 cameras, including limits on where the devices may be installed and how long license plate data may be stored.<\/p>\n But the latest incident further exposes the gaps in accountability that exist with automated license plate readers, which have come under increasing scrutiny in recent months. In November, a coalition of local advocacy groups sued San Jose<\/a>, alleging the city\u2019s practice of allowing warrantless searches of its license plate data violates drivers\u2019 privacy rights.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, South Bay jurisdictions \u2014including Santa Clara County, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View \u2014 terminated their contracts with Flock Safety<\/a>, amid concerns the company has allowed transfers of license plate reader data<\/a> to out-of-state law enforcement agencies, a practice barred by state law.<\/p>\n Zuniga said SJPD will follow the city council\u2019s lead on using surveillance cameras.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to look at the workload to see everything that we can do to ensure that we leverage our technology responsibly and ethically,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_9576-1024x768.jpeg\")
Kimberly Woo, an organizer with SIREN, said the San Jose Police Department breached its trust with the public at a rally held on Sept. 30, 2026. Photo by Joyce Chu.<\/p>\n
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