Fullerton is powering down its 19 Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras for the next six months, while the city holds a town hall and reviews the Police Department\u2019s use of the system.<\/p>\n
The pause does not end the city\u2019s contract with Flock, which costs roughly $51,000 a year and is currently scheduled to run through at least 2028. Under the suspension, Fullerton police officers will no longer receive real-time alerts when a wanted or stolen vehicle passes a camera, and detectives will lose access to searches of where a plate has been.<\/p>\n
Previously collected data will be deleted under the department\u2019s 30-day retention policy, with backups purged about a week later, according to a Flock Safety representative. Images already booked into criminal cases will still be retained for evidence.<\/p>\n
Fullerton police previously said the system has helped officers recover 274 stolen vehicles and locate 18 missing persons.<\/p>\n
The decision came after hours of council debate and public comment on Oct. 6<\/a>, with the council voting 3-1 to pause the program. Councilmember Ahmad Zahra initiated the proposal to power down the system, with Councilmembers Shana Charles and Nicholas Dunlap in support.<\/p>\n Councilmember Jamie Valencia voted against the pause, and Mayor Fred Jung was absent for the vote.<\/p>\n City staff will use the next six months to establish customer-service and audit protocols with Flock, to compare the Fullerton department\u2019s investigations with and without the use of the cameras, and monitor pending litigation as well as actions by other cities.<\/p>\n After public input, the city will also review the Police Department\u2019s automated license plate reader policy for council approval.<\/p>\n Dunlap said the recent decision was not about opposing police.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018I have nothing to hide\u2019 \u2014 I hear that a lot, and I just think that\u2019s the wrong way to think about it,\u201d Dunlap said. \u201cWe\u2019re innocent until proven guilty. Do we really need technology in place that tracks our every move? It just seems un-American to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Dunlap said the technology is \u201cundeniable\u201d in how it helps solve cases, but called the pause a chance for \u201ca bigger discussion\u201d he expects the state Legislature to join.<\/p>\n Zahra framed the pause as a constitutional duty.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to protect and provide public safety,\u201d he said, \u201cbut we also need to protect the values that we have. From the Constitution we swore allegiance to, privacy, and the Fourth Amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n Valencia said the department\u2019s employees were \u201cgood stewards\u201d of the system.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t feel comfortable turning off the cameras, because it\u2019s been helping our police officers,\u201d Valencia said. \u201cI\u2019m not a police officer.\u201d<\/p>\n Anjali Tapadia, a 40-year-old Fullerton resident who regularly attends council meetings and advocated for the pause, said the cameras change how people live.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople change their behavior when they know they\u2019re being watched, and they don\u2019t change it in a good way,\u201d she said. \u201cThey change it in a way that restricts their ability to access their freedoms of movement, association and speech.\u201d<\/p>\n She described the three-hour deliberation as an unusual display of consensus for a frequently divided council. \u201cYou hope to see your city leaders having a rational discussion and really thinking things through, because these decisions affect all of us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n