{"id":483883,"date":"2026-10-03T12:16:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T12:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/483883\/"},"modified":"2026-10-03T12:16:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T12:16:26","slug":"letters-to-the-editor-license-plate-surveillance-and-tyranny-alive-and-well-in-long-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/483883\/","title":{"rendered":"Letters to the Editor: License Plate Surveillance and Tyranny, Alive and Well in Long Beach –"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> Rancho Palos Verdes, Mayor Paul Seo. <\/p>\n

License Plate Readers Put Privacy in the Crosshairs<\/p>\n

To say that the electorate is angry is an understatement, as is the assertion that it has a right to be.<\/p>\n

When one considers rampant corruption and rising costs that are making it near impossible to live without concern, it\u2019s a wonder that the proverbial camel\u2019s back has remained unbroken.<\/p>\n

But, there\u2019s another factor that just might do the trick: surveillance camera systems.<\/p>\n

At issue are Automatic License Plate Readers, installed to identify and track vehicles. The most prominent devices currently in use are those from Flock Safety.<\/p>\n

Among the cities that contract with Flock is Rancho Palos Verdes, led by Mayor Paul Seo, under which communities and Home Owner Associations can obtain Flock cameras, with taxpayer funds covering half the cost.<\/p>\n

So far, such installations have drawn three lawsuits. That\u2019s in addition to the other surveillance cameras Seo and his council colleagues already spent nearly $300,000 in taxpayer dollars to have installed throughout the city.<\/p>\n

During a recent city council meeting on the issue, a Flock representative painted a rosy picture of her company\u2019s products and practices. Her claims are contradicted other available evidence, and Flock was not challenged at this meeting by Paul Seo or his Council, despite their known and very concerning practices around privacy and data sharing.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what we know: innocent people are being detained or arrested due to mistakes made by the system. These systems are easily hacked, without any data protection. And there isn\u2019t clarity on how the data is being used or stored. Many have pointed out that they even violate Americans\u2019 right to privacy under the Fourth Amendment.<\/p>\n

In one incident reported, a motorist was pulled over by police consistently because his license plate was put on a \u201cFlock camera hot list.\u201d But there was no warrant out on him, and he has faced roadblock after roadblock to get his license plate out of the system.<\/p>\n

In another case, a woman\u2019s car got captured on a Flock camera while she was near the scene of a fatal hit-and-run incident. Though unconnected, she had to spend almost two weeks in jail.<\/p>\n

A woman was even sought after when seeking abortion care, with law enforcement using data retrieved from a Flock camera.<\/p>\n

One has to wonder whether Paul Seo and his council have heard such stories or are simply unaffected by them.<\/p>\n

Indeed, there has been a steady drumbeat of approval for the last few years, despite public outrage across the country.<\/p>\n

If the matter of safety, liability and privacy is re-considered, perhaps Seo and the Council will finally hear a cross-spectrum chorus to Get the Flock Out!<\/p>\n

Adrian Tatum<\/p>\n

Rolling Hills Estates<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tyranny is alive and well in Long Beach<\/p>\n

The Long Beach (LB) tyrant mayor and seven city council members have made it abundantly clear that your opinions and potential comments are not welcome. Basically, they are proposing a draconian reduction in time for public input in pertinent matters before them. How conveniently they waited until after the June election to drop their bomb.<\/p>\n

Firstly, this is a flagrant violation of the California Brown Act and its open meeting requirements.<\/p>\n

Secondly, it undermines our CA state and US Constitutions.<\/p>\n

Thirdly, while this city is in the midst of a supposed budget crisis brought on by their blatant frivolous spending, they are irresponsibly inviting a constitutional lawsuit. (Where is the city attorney?)<\/p>\n

Fourth, the LB City Code of Conduct states. \u201cI will work to make sure that all of the people in our city have the ability to actively participate and engage, and will work to eliminate barriers to public involvement in decisions, programs, and services.\u201d All of these eight office holders were required to sign for receipt\/reading of this clause.<\/p>\n

Wake up before they try to steal anymore of your rights. Write, call, post, or better yet show up at the Aug 6 LB council meeting to voice your objection. It may be the last time you will ever be allowed.<\/p>\n

Diana Lejins<\/p>\n

Greater Long Beach Taxpayers Union<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rancho Palos Verdes, Mayor Paul Seo. License Plate Readers Put Privacy in the Crosshairs To say that the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":483884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[189427,40482,189428,131,133,132,9550],"class_list":["post-483883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-flockcameras","tag-longbeach","tag-privacyrights","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-surveillance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483883","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=483883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}