FLOCK ALPR
DISCUSSION ITEM
AUGUST 25, 2026 SHERIFA
COMMANDER ERIC TENNESSEN ENTURA COUNT
Flock ALPR
PUBLIC SCRUTINY
TRANSPARENCY
ACCOUNTABILITY
TRUST
TRUST ISN'T SOMETHING WE ASK FOR. IT'S SOMETHING WE EARN.
Flock ALPR Concerns
4TH AMENDMENT VIOLATION
PRIVACY AND SURVEILLANCE
DATA SECURITY
ACCURACY
APPROPRIATE USE
ACCOUNTABILITY AND OVERSIGHT
EFFECTIVENESS
FLOCK ALPR
Recent Case Law Supporting ALPR Use
United States v. Porter (170 F.4th 381, 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, March 2026) 66 District Court Ruling: "An individual traveling in an automobile on public thoroughfares has no reasonable expectation of privacy in their movements from one place to another," and "motorists do not have a privacy interest in their license plates" since they are "constantly open to plain view of" passersby.
Courts have
consistently upheld 66 "A person does not surrender all Fourth Amendment protection by venturing into the the constitutionality public sphere," Carpenter v. United States, but "A person traveling in an automobile on public thoroughfares has no reasonable expectation of privacy in his movements from of ALPR use.
one place to another," United States v. Knotts.
6G The use of an LPR system did not invade any reasonable expectation of privacy and did not constitute a search, so no warrant was required."
FLOCK ALPR
Recent Case Law Supporting ALPR Use
Schmidt v. City of Norfolk
(819 F.Supp.3d 492, Eastern District
of Virginia - January 2026) COMMUNITY COMPARISON NORFOLK CAMARILLO 66 "Federal and state courts analyzing ALPR claims
City Area 66 sq. miles 19 sq. miles
have almost uniformly concluded that neither
taking photos of the license plate of a vehicle on
a public roadway nor maintaining and querying a
database of ALPR photos constitute a warrantless Population 238,000 69,000 "search."
"ALPR surveillance could become too intrusive Flock Cameras 175 35 and run afoul of [constitutional privacy standards]
at some point. But when?" While a definitive
answer to that question is elusive, what is readily
apparent to this Court is: not today."
Flock ALPR Basics
WHAT IT DOES WHAT IT DOES NOT DO
Identify the driver - no facial
Triggered by vehicle motion
recognition
Focused on specific view No vehicle registration checks Captures Tell us why someone is driving,
what they are doing or where
• License plate image
they are going
• Vehicle attributes (make, color, type,
and certain characteristics)
Follow cars or people
• Date, time and fixed location
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Our Use
Governed by Policy 429 Each investigative search requires Offense Type, Case Number and
https://sheriff.venturacounty.gov/policies/
a Reason for Search
Only allows use for official Images retained for 1 year and law enforcement purposes then permanently deleted
by trained staff
All inquiries require For every hit, deputies shall
visually verify the license plate
login/password/multi-
and shall confirm the alert is still
factor authentication
active with Sheriff's Dispatch
prior to stopping a vehicle
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Placement
Dictated by data and by Most ingress / egress
current and historical crime trends locations for the city Retail theft, Bank jugging, Mail theft • 63% of arrests in Camarillo and Residential burglary are of people who live
outside of our city.
• 87% of arrests at the Outlets
and Camarillo Town Center
Not at schools, not at
medical centers or churches (Target and Home Depot)
are of people who live
outside of our city.
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ACCOUNTABILITY
DOJ standard for auditing After the data searching issue use of CLETS and NCIC discovered in February - daily
audits / now weekly audits to
• Once every 3 years verify data security
VCSO has passed DOJ Annual audit of users to check
audits for at least 10 years for compliance with policy No individual misuses
No reports of misuse for
discovered since we started
more than 5 years
using Flock ALPR devices
Flock ALPR
ACCURACY
Roseville PD - Business Insider Accuracy is important and made better by human intervention
report - 71% Error (Follow-up
article by SacBee)
Technology is not perfect
• Accuracy optimized during
implementation
ALPRs inform human decisions -
it does not replace them
LAPD - OIG Report - ALPR
Our policy requires human
reads led to false arrests
intervention before enforcement
can be taken
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Data Sharing
Compliant with SB 54
Currently sharing with 58
E (No sharing for immigration
California law enforcement
purposes)
agencies
Compliant with SB 34
(No sharing with agencies MOU between VCSO and each
outside of California) agency that governs how data
is shared
No federal agencies,
no agencies outside of
California
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Current Deployment
City of Camarillo Organized Retail Theft Task Force
20 fixed location cameras 12 fixed location cameras
5 temporary mobile cameras
Annual Cost to Camarillo Annual Cost to Camarillo
$87,250 $0
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What Flock reads look like
1 Flock Safety
SERVE WITH INTERT 9X
VENTURA COUNTY SHERIFF
1638013
330422
POLICE * Flock Safety * Flock Safety
8/19/2026 13:23:14 8/18/2026 15:32:01 POT 8/19/2026 12:22:37 PDT Ventura County CA SO Ventura County CA SO Ventura County CA SO City of Camarillo - VCSO 1722656 Ventura County CA SO Ventura County CA SO 1643017 'CA EXEMPT CA EXEMPT
1638013 1722656 1643017
Flock ALPR
Does it make Camarillo safer?
Stolen vehicles recovered: During a shooting in Nyeland Acres, 38 - 2024 victims provided a suspect vehicle
license plate. The plate was entered
46 - 2025
into our LPR system. An alert on the
30 - YTD vehicle occurred in Camarillo a short
time later and the car was stopped in
Camarillo. Several subjects were arrested
LPRS identified suspect vehicles in the and a modified AR-15 style rifle was Camarillo Gun Store burglary where 63 recovered.
firearms were stolen. The suspects were
involved in several similar crimes and LPRs helped track stolen trailers stole more than 300 firearms. Six from Harbor Freight, assisting in arrests suspects arrested. and recovery of $1.5 million in property.
Several suspects arrested.
Flock ALPR
Do they make Camarillo safer?
In the spring of 2026, a homicide A resident reported subjects attempting occurred in Camarillo. An LPR read to steal mail from a postal drop box in captured the suspect vehicle and Camarillo and provided a license plate helped to identify him, leading to his and vehicle description. The plate was arrest within hours of the crime. entered into our LPR system and an alert resulted in the suspect's arrest a short
time later. The suspect had mail from
more than 50 victims in his possession.
In June, a shooting occurred on Barry
Street in Camarillo. A resident's ring
camera captured the make, model and A local gang member was stopped color of the suspect vehicle, along with a after an LPR alert indicated he was on unique sticker in the back window. Within probation. The subject was found in possession of a loaded firearm with a
a short time, a search of our LPR system
high capacity magazine. A search
identified the vehicle involved. Three
warrant at his home yielded a second
subjects were arrested for the shooting. illegal firearm. :::::: Flock ALPR
Do they make Camarillo safer?
In July, two unknown suspects stole from Target
and fled in a car. Video surveillance showed the
license plate, but investigators were unable to A Camarillo resident reported her vehicle identify the suspects. Detectives entered the being stolen. Our ARTIC operator found LPR license plate onto a hotlist. The vehicle returned
hits on the stolen vehicle in Thousand Oaks
to Camarillo last Friday and we were alerted by
the LPR system. Detectives coordinated with and sent deputies to the area. Deputies Loss Prevention and patrol deputies and located located the stolen vehicle and arrested two the vehicle as it was fleeing Target. The same Oxnard residents within an hour of the suspects from the July theft were arrested with vehicle being reported stolen. $1,500 in stolen merchandise.
A Camarillo resident withdrew a significant amount
of cash from the bank before going to another
store. An unknown subject followed the victim,
broke into the victim's car and stole the cash. LPR
records helped to identify the suspect vehicle,
which ultimately led to the suspect's identification.
FLOCK ALPR
CONCERNS RAISED. FACTS EXAMINED.
CONCERNS RAISED WHAT WE EXAMINED WHAT THE EVIDENCE SHOWS Fourth Amendment Court rulings & Courts have upheld the use of ALPR technology; legal precedent its use is not, by itself, a Fourth Amendment violation.
Data was available for searching for approximately
Federal Access System audit logs one month, from February-March 2025.
No searches since then.
Data was available for searching for approximately
Out-of-State Access System audit logs one month, from February-March 2025.
No searches since then.
System capabilities & Cameras capture point-in-time vehicle observations Mass Tracking at specific locations-not continuous, real-time deployment
surveillance of individuals.
Published reports, ALPR technology is not infallible. Alerts are Accuracy policy & actual investigative leads and require independent system use verification before enforcement action.
Accountability Policy, access controls Specific policies govern authorized use. & audit capability Search activity is auditable and subject to review.
Effectiveness Local investigative ALPR information has helped recover stolen outcomes property, identify suspects, and make arrests.
ALPR TECHNOLOGY
MOVING FORWARD
OUR STRATEGY GUIDES HOW WE EVALUATE NEW SOLUTIONS
PROTECTING ENHANCING ENHANCING OPERATIONAL DATA ACCOUNTABILITY
PRIVACY PUBLIC SAFETY EFFICIENCY AND PROTECTION
EFFECTIVENESS
We are committed to We use technology to We maintain strong We hold ourselves to the We leverage technology to
safeguarding privacy and prevent crime, solve cases, improve workflows, save safeguards to protect highest standards and ensuring our technology and create safer data and ensure it is are accountable to the time, and make better-
is used responsibly. communities. informed decisions. secure and appropriate. community.
CAMARILLO
POLICE DEPARTMENT
Trust isn't something we ask for.
It's something we earn.
TRANSPARENCY SAFEGUARDS ACCOUNTABILITY RESULTS
We are open, honest, We use technology We hold ourselves to We deliver outcomes and committed to responsibly, with the highest standards that make Camarillo keeping you informed. strong protections every day. a safer place to live, in place. work, and raise a family.