COMMUNITY SAFETY CAMERA SYSTEMS
Oakland Police Department
Lt. Gabriel Urquiza
Dr. Carlo Beckman
DC Daza-Quiroz
EXISTING AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE
READERS (ALPR)
Designed to take photos of the rear of a vehicle and capture the license plate of the vehicle.
Data captured by Flock ALPR cameras is owned by the customer (City of Oakland).
Data is retained through Flock Safety for a period of 30 days. Data determined to be related to an investigation is then downloaded and retained as evidence.
Data is only downloaded/saved if determined to be evidence related to an investigation.
California LE Agencies wishing to access OPD data must complete a sharing request. The requesting agency is required to affirmatively confirm that it will follow state law related to the use and sharing of ALPR data (SB 34 and SB 54).
Federal and out-of-state agencies are prohibited from accessing OPD’s data through Flock.
WHAT ALPR DOES NOT DO
Flock ALPR is not designed to capture photos of people.
Flock does not utilize facial recognition technology on any of its platforms.
Data is not searchable by a person’s demographic data.
Flock ALPR does not include any Personal Identifying Information (PII).
Flock ALPR does not contain or capture DMV data or Oakland PD RMS Data.
ANNUAL REPORT DATA JULY 2024 -
DECEMBER 2024
The 2024 Annual Report (See Addendum 1) covered the period of July 2024 through December 2024.
During that time, there were 188,964,975 license plate reads. The top five alert types were stolen plate (187,120), non-owned custom hotlist alert, which is an alert created by another agency using Flock and shared with OPD (28,600), stolen vehicle (23,179), an alert from an OPD custom hotlist (5,799) and 2,326 felony vehicles.
At the time of the report, OPD had shared access to 50 agencies. Based on crime data and identifying the main egress and ingress locations to these hot spots, the 290 cameras were originally deployed within the respective six areas as follows: Area 1: 44, Area 2: 57, Area 3: 23, Area 4: 55, Area 5: 51, Area 6: 60
ANNUAL REPORT DATA JULY 2024 -
DECEMBER 2024
OPD audited 398 internal historical searches and 99% included a report number or incident number and 97% included the penal/vehicle code or crime as required by policy.
At the time of the report 246 users had been trained and a random sample of 25 users found that all had completed the required training.
OPD logged a total of 240 enforcement actions in Flock from August 2024 through February of 2025. Based on these actions, OPD was able to generate 112 leads, 55 were cleared by arrests, 34 were cleared by other means such as vehicle recovery, 31 are in-progress investigations, and 8 warrants were issued.
Summarization of all outcomes shows that OPD made 98 arrests, recovered 32 vehicles, and recovered 29 guns.
FLOCK ALPR RELATED DATA UPDATE -
JULY 2024- NOVEMBER 2025
Oakland PD
T otal Arrest – 232
Firearms Recovered – 68
Homicide Arrest – 17
Robbery Arrest – 108
Success Outcomes – 573 (400 in 2025 YTD)
ADDRESSING ROBBERY SERIES
In 2024, Oakland experienced 14 robbery series incidents, that included 172 separate robberies. (For the purpose of this analysis, a series was defined as 4 or more robberies associated to a particular robbery group)
Of those series, ALPR was utilized in 10 of the 14 series. In 8 of the 10 cases, ALPR directly contributed to the recovery of suspect vehicles as well as the identification and arrests of the suspects.
ADDRESSING ROBBERY SERIES
In 2025 YTD, Oakland experienced a drop in robbery series from 14, down to 6.
The 6 series included 46 individual robberies.
Flock ALPR played a critical role in the investigation of all 6 robbery series.
5 of the investigations led to the identification and arrest of those involved.
FLOCK ALPR RELATED DATA
Use of Flock by Alameda County Regional Auto Theft Task Force (ACSO/
CHP/OPD)
110 Arrestsbased on Flock ALPR Alert information associated to stolen/felony vehicles.
Approximately 1,100 vehicles recovered with an estimated 25% of those vehicles recovered unoccupied as a result of following up on ALPR alerts.
Utilized related to the investigation of suspected “Chop Shops”
ELEMENTS OF THE CS CAMERA SYSTEM
Community/Private
owned or managed
devices
Department
owned/managed
devices
Integration Platform
(Flock OS)
COMMUNITY/PRIVATE DEVICES
Requires affirmative opt-in to share access to historical and real-time video data.
Owner/Manager retains ownership over data.
Flock OS provides OPD the capability to access data related to investigations.
Data only downloaded/saved if determined to be evidence related to a specific investigation.
Participants do not have access to OPD system or any other participants data.
OPD OWNED/MANAGED DEVICES
Only OPD has direct access to data captured by devices.
Data is retained for 30 days unless determined to be evidence related to investigation.
Evidence is download from the system and retained in separate data storage system Data is not searchable by any other agency.
Intended to supplement existing community-based cameras in commercial areas.
FLOCK OPERATING SYSTEM
A technology platform allowing CS Camera System integration.
Potential of integrating additional existing systems into Flock OS for more cohesive and comprehensive approach.
CS Camera System data is not searchable/accessible by any other agency.
Tier Access within the Department for Live Access (Tier 1) and Historical Access (Tier 2)
DATA ANALYSIS
THE ROLE OF THE RTOC
The Real-Time Operations Center began a pilot program in July of 2024 and sought to integrate and leverage existing technology within the Department, while researching and developing new and emerging technology that would be beneficial to the community.
The RTOC has since evolved to assist with operations and planning throughout the Department, while supporting field operations that address disruptive criminal activity. The RTOC program currently works within the current Ceasefire Section, providing data-informed direction to support the overall Ceasefire Strategy.
THE ROLE OF DATA
As part of the RTOC model, OPD has conducted significant analysis related to crime data. The focus of this research was primarily on criminal activity that has the
largest impact on the community and businesses
within Oakland. These include burglaries, robberies,
shootings, and homicides. While conducting this analysis, the RTOC also analyzed data related to how particular types of crime may impact vulnerable communities.
Carjacking incidents peaked
in 2023 at 513 armed
carjackings. In the first 6
months of 2024, there was
an average of 40 carjackings
per month.
After the implementation of
Flock ALPR in July of 2024,
there was an average of 24
carjackings per month.
2023 YTD, there were 568 carjacking robberies.
2025 YTD, there have been 192 carjacking robberies, a 66% decrease.
2025 YTD, there has been a 41% decrease in overall
robberies. Robberies are down 53% between 2023 YTD
(3,047) and 2025 YTD (1,416).
Challenges Related T o Robberies in Oakland
Latino members of the
community were impacted by
robberies at a significantly
higher rate, 55% of the total
robberies in Oakland
(2025 YTD).
The second most impacted
group is Black members of
the community, who were
targeted in 19% of the total
robberies in Oakland.
This data illustrates the
impact of robberies on our
communities of color, while
demonstrating the benefits to
vulnerable populations that
are presented by deterring or
preventing robbery activity.
THE IMPACT OF HOMICIDES ON
COMMUNITIES OF COLOR
• In 2023, there were 125 homicides, with 116 of those victims being people of color, approximately 93% of all homicides.
• In 2024, of the 85 homicides, 88% of homicide victims were people of color.
• Through the end of September 2025, of the 51 homicides, 49 of those victims were people of color, approximately 96% of the total homicides.
IMPACTING HOMICIDES
• At this time in October 2023 (YTD), there were 104 homicides. • Through October 20th, 2025, there have been 55 homicides; a 47% percent decrease.
It is the Department’s explicit intent to continue to drive down homicides in the most impacted communities by taking a collective and comprehensive approach to addressing violence.
T echnology is one element of that approach, along with utilizing community partnerships and supporting the separate but parallel work of the Department of Violence Prevention.
OPD believes that the significant decrease in violent crime is attributed to the multi-pronged and holistic approach by the City of Oakland, which includes OPD’s continued investment in the Ceasefire model and use of technology. T echnology has been integral in the Department’s Public Safety efforts and has measured success over the last two years.
FISCAL IMPACT
OPD intends to utilize $2,252,000 (over 2 years) in City funding for Flock Safety software and hardware products.
OPD has $1,500,000 authorized to utilize for funding Flock Safety systems for FY 25-26 and another $1,500,000 authorized for FY -26-
27. No additional funding has been requested from the General Purpose Fund. The funds were already allocated by OPD during the FY 25-26 budget.
FLOCK contract dates Costs
Year 1 $1,155,500
Year 2 $1,097,000
TOTAL $2,252,500
CONTRACT SAFEGUARDS
• See Addendum 2. Data collected is the property of the City of Oakland and shall not be shared with any other entity without the consent of the City. Any violation of this clause would represent a breach of contract, allowing the Department/City to terminate the contract. • As part of the proposed contract, Flock has agreed not to collect anonymized aggregated data for the purpose of machine learning.
CONTRACT SAFEGUARDS
• Language within the contract that allows for a termination of the contract for the following:
• Federal Assumption. (In the event that the City is assumed, merged into, or otherwise placed under the direct control or administration of the United States Federal Government (a “Federal Assumption”), and as a result is no longer able to operate as an independent agency, performance of all Services under this Agreement shall be immediately suspended and qualify as a termination for cause.)
• Contract with a Federal Agency that invalidates or compromises the City’s sole ownership of City Data.
ADDITIONAL SAFEGUARDS
• The Department continues to be aligned with the principles of the community and the City of Oakland related to Immigration Enforcement.
• By Department and City Policy, OPD does not assist in any Immigration Enforcement.
• The Community Safety Camera System shall only be accessed by members of the Department who are authorized to utilize it. No outside agency shall be provided access to the system.
CONCERNS SURROUNDING LEGAL
ORDERS
• Any data captured by any electronic system is potentially susceptible to a legal obligation (e.g., court order, search warrant, subpoena). • This is not isolated to Flock OS or Flock ALPR. This includes Social Media Platforms, Cell Service Providers, Personal Owned Smart Phones, Cloud Storage Platforms (such as iCloud and Google Drive), Privately Managed Camera Networks, etc.
• As the City of Oakland is the owner of data captured by Flock devices, the City of Oakland would be served the legal order, unless prohibited by law. • The City of Oakland’s City Attorney’s Office would have the ability to challenge/contest a legal order when appropriate. It should also be noted that the State Attorney General’s Office has shown a willingness and ability to challenge “Federal Overreach” by way of legal intervention.
STAFFING CONCERNS
CRITICAL STAFFING SITUATION
In January of 2024, OPD sworn staffing levels were at 711, 89 fewer than the last proposed staffing study suggested. In October of 2025, OPD sworn staffing levels were at 636, with an operational staffing level of 509 sworn.
At these numbers, critical units have been required to be disbanded to backfill essential roles in Patrol.
URGENCY
OPD’s concern is how quickly progress can be reversed, as was demonstrated in 2020.
During the first 6 months of 2020, there were 37 homicides. The second half of 2020 saw a large spike, with 72 homicides occurring in that 6- month period. This trend continued into 2021, 2022, and 2023 where far higher incidents of shootings and homicides were seen, compared to recent years.
IN CONCLUSION
• In the last two years, Oakland has seen tremendous progress related to overall crime, especially violent crime. OPD is committed to continuing the positive momentum forward despite the limited staffing resources available and seeks to utilize technology to keep Oakland heading in the right direction.
• OPD recognizes that there is an important balance between privacy and public safety and is focused on utilizing technology responsibly, with sufficient guardrails to protect the community’s data. T echnology must always be used ethically and constitutionally and in accordance with policy, procedure, law, and in accordance with our Surveillance T echnology Ordinance 13635 CMS.
QUESTIONS?