Those concerns were prevalent when Santa Ana City Council members approved spending up to over $700,000 combined on two automated license plate reader contracts in May 2025, while directing police officials to give a public update a year later.<\/p>\n
Five months since police officials were expected to return this year with that update, residents in the heart of OC are still waiting to have that public hearing on the efficiency of the city\u2019s Flock cameras and just how the data and footage they capture is being used.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The wait may soon be over.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Santa Ana City Council members are expected to discuss directing the city manager to come back within a month\u2019s time with the overdue one year update, a report on their options to end their contracts with Flock and Motorola for the license plate readers as well as a report on what outside agencies are accessing their ALPR system.<\/p>\n
In her request for the discussion<\/a>, Councilwoman Jessie Lopez \u2013 who is running for State Assembly \u2013 noted the delay in the update and recent report by the Inadvertent that a northern california fusion center accessed the city\u2019s system on behalf of federal agencies.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis council promised our community an audit after one year. Instead, we\u2019ve gotten silenced. We\u2019ve gotten deflection, and along with 27,000 searches by the fusion center, funneling our residents\u2019 data to the federal government. This isn\u2019t a hypothetical civil liberties debate anymore,\u201d she said at a news conference last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe council needs to cancel this contract, not renew it, not study it, but remove it from our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n Lopez did not respond to requests for comment Friday and Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Santa Ana officials aren\u2019t the only ones looking to review their Flock contracts or update residents on their impacts.<\/p>\n In Brea, officials are also expected to receive an update on their integrated crime center<\/a> and a presentation on their automated license plate readers program at their Tuesday 7 p.m. city council meeting<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n That same night, officials in neighboring Fullerton are also slated to discuss automated license plate readers during the 5:30 p.m. city council meeting<\/a> \u2013 including if city council members want to continue using this type of surveillance in the college town.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Costa Mesa officials this summer decided to keep their Flock contract<\/a> and called on staff to renegotiate their contract regarding data accessibility and collection after a Costa Mesa police officer used the devices to stalk women, including his wife, an ex-girlfriend and romantic rivals.<\/p>\n Santa Ana Flock Cameras<\/p>\n Councilman David Penaloza, who is running for State Assembly against Lopez, said while the contracts for the license plate readers were approved in May 2025 the cameras weren\u2019t installed until the tail end of September 2025 \u2013 pushing back on comments that review is late.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf things were up and running the day after we approved things, government would be a lot more efficient. But guess what? It\u2019s not,\u201d he said in a Monday phone interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe year mark hasn\u2019t been five months ago. It was recently. It was a couple weeks ago, so I\u2019m happy that we\u2019re now going to have that conversation tomorrow. I\u2019m hoping for a lot of questions that we have being answered, and this is actually how you make real policy.\u201d<\/p>\n Penaloza said it\u2019s valid to have a conversation about ending the contract for the cameras and if there has been security breaches to the system they should \u201cpull the plug\u201d on the contracts.<\/p>\n \u201cBut when it\u2019s just again these orgs that their core mission is to just dismantle any type of public safety tool. You have to question that,\u201d he said. \u201cIf there is data being shared with the federal agencies that is a concern because that was something that we believed and we hoped would not happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Councilman Johnathan Hernandez said he was in support of ending the contracts for the license plate readers, that the fusion center sharing data from the city\u2019s system to federal agencies was a violation of state law and raised concerns about mass surveillance.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m concerned that there\u2019s this growing practice across this country that Americans are becoming essentially desensitized to living in a mass surveillance police state, and that is not okay,\u201d he said in a Monday phone interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFlock does not make it any safer for us. The police want Flock to mass surveillance the community so that they don\u2019t have to do their job.\u201d<\/p>\n Councilman Ben Vazquez, who is running for reelection, said use of the license plate readers can be abused, calling the system inherently \u201cfascist\u201d for spying on residents.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m worried about what we\u2019re creating across this country, and I\u2019m so happy that other cities are saying no more \u2013 to weaken the network but we can\u2019t be part of it either. We can\u2019t be complicit,\u201d he said in a Monday phone interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mayor Valerie Amezcua, Councilmembers Phil Bacerra and Thai Viet Phan did not respond to requests for comment Friday and Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Police Chief Robert Rodriguez did not respond to emailed questions last month about the automated license plate readers and why his department has yet to publicly provide the update on the effectiveness of the cameras.<\/p>\n Rodriguez along with City Manager Alvaro Nu\u00f1ez and City Spokesman Paul Eakins also did not respond to a follow up email on those questions Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead, Natalie Garcia, a spokeswoman for the department, pointed to the police department\u2019s social media page in response to questions Monday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, city council candidates shared their own stances on Flock cameras<\/a> last week, with several voicing opposition to them.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Flock\u2019s transparency page<\/a>, there were nearly 1.3 million unique vehicles detected in the past month but the page does not state how many of those vehicles had been flagged.\u00a0<\/p>\n The OC Register<\/a> reported last week that the Santa Ana Police Department used their license plate readers to identify and arrest a woman who ran over her puppy with her minivan.<\/p>\n Fullerton Flock Cameras<\/p>\n Fullerton officials are also expected to discuss whether they want to continue their contract with Flock cameras Tuesday and their license plate reader policy at the request of Councilman Ahmad Zahra<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The college town has 19 Flock cameras that have cost the city nearly a quarter of million dollars since 2021.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_6740.jpg\")
Santa Ana Councilwoman Jessie Lopez speaks at a news conference against Flock cameras outside of city hall on Sept. 9, 2026. Credit: HOSAM ELATTAR, Voice of OC<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_6755.jpg\")
Members of Chispa along with Santa Ana Councilman Ben Vazquez (right) at a press conference against Flock cameras outside of City Hall on Sept. 9, 2026. Credit: HOSAM ELATTAR, Voice of OC<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_0392.jpg\")
An Automated License Plate Reader in Costa Mesa off Harbor Boulevard on July 17, 2026. Credit: ANGELINA HICKS, Voice of OC<\/p>\n