City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: INFORMATION REPORTS
Lead Department: City Manager
Meeting Date: December 15, 2025
Report #:2509-5261
TITLE
Surveillance Technology Report for Fiscal Year 2025; CEQA Status – Not a Project
RECOMMENDATION
This is an informational report about the City’s use of surveillance technology in Palo Alto during the Fiscal Year 2025, and no City Council action is required.
BACKGROUND
In September 2019, the City Council adopted the Surveillance and Privacy Protection Ordinance, establishing criteria and procedures for the protection of personal privacy when considering the acquisition and use of surveillance technologies by the City. 1 Codified in the municipal code at Chapter 2.30, Part 6A, the ordinance also outlines ongoing monitoring and annual reporting of such technologies. Annual reporting must include the following information pursuant to PAMC section 2.30.680(a):
1. A description of how each Council-approved surveillance technology was used, including whether it captures images, sound, or information regarding members of the public who are not suspected of engaging in unlawful conduct;
2. Whether and how often data acquired through the use of surveillance technology was shared with outside entities, the names of any recipient entity, the types of data disclosed, and the reason for the disclosure;
3. A summary of any community complaints or concerns about surveillance technology;
4. Non-privileged and non-confidential information regarding the results of any internal audits, information about violations of the surveillance use policy, and any actions taken in response;
5. Whether the surveillance technology has been effective at achieving its identified purpose;
1 City Council 9/10/2018, Item #8 https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/DocView.aspx?id=31129&repo=r- 704298fc&searchid=32375c76-1583-463b-ad42-8e5dce472815
6. The number and nature of Public Records Act requests relating to the surveillance technology;
7. Annual costs for the surveillance technology and for compliance with this surveillance; and
8. Other relevant information as determined by the City Manager.
This report covers the activity in Fiscal Year 2025.
ANALYSIS
Pursuant to the Surveillance and Privacy Protection Ordinance, the following departmental activities are summarized in this report.
IT DEPARTMENT
Council Chambers Security Cameras. In April 2025, Council approved the purchase of security cameras to enhance the safety and security of the Council Chambers. 3 Equipment necessary for facilitating public meetings, including computers, monitors, and microphones, is kept in Council chambers and the general area. Access to Council Chambers is accessible to the general public for public meetings or authorized special events. Outside of these instances, use is limited to staff to minimize the risk of damage to city property, tampering with equipment. There have been repeated incidents of vandalism, theft, and interference with A/V equipment, imperative in supporting public meetings in Council Chambers. Installation of these cameras is intended to deter such incidents and increase the security and safety of Council Chambers. Surveillance from security cameras will also assist staff should an incident occur.
Installation of the security cameras in Council Chambers was completed in November. The total contract cost is $4,886, which includes acquisition of surveillance cameras, monitoring systems, storage, maintenance, and personnel for oversight. To date, there have been no formal complaints, no reported violations of use, and no Public Records Act requests related to this system. No data was shared externally during the reporting period, and no technology-use violations occurred. This project includes a one-time cost of $5,400 and an annual licensing fee of $605, both funded by the IT department.
POLICE
Body Worn, Vehicle, and Interview Cameras. On June 18, 2024, Council approved the contract with Lenslock, a technology system used to document public contacts. 4 This Digital Evidence Management system is fully integrated with in-car, interview, and body-worn cameras that is 3 City Council Meeting 4/21/2025, Agenda Item #10,
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=16054 4 City Council Meeting 06/18/2024, Agenda Item #AA1,
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=14317 used to capture video and audio. This includes but is not limited to: traffic stops, parking enforcement, suspect interviews, witness interviews, victim interviews, and other citizen contact in response to a call for service or when investigating criminal activity through user-activated audio and video recordings. The system’s metadata will automatically flow into the evidence management system application, where video assets are verified as original or exact duplicates (non-edited data) and managed as evidence. This technology has been successful in achieving its intended purpose. The Police Department has also worked with the vendor to make improvements to their DEMS system. These updates delayed the body-worn and in-car systems implementation. Vehicle installation began in August 2025 and the fleet will be fully upgraded to LensLock by December 2025.
The ongoing cost of the service is $214,800 annually. The funding of the contract is from the Capital Budget Project PD-20000-Police Video Recording System Replacement. During this reporting period, there have been no formal complaints, no reported violations of use, and no Public Records Act requests related to this system. No data was shared externally during the reporting period, and no technology-use violations occurred.
GPS Vehicle Tracking. On April 15, 2025, Council approved the contract with Starchase LLC for GPS Vehicle tracking implementation to track vehicles that may have been used in the commission of crime. 7 This technology can be launched from a patrol vehicle onto a fleeing suspect vehicle to capture the GPS location of the vehicle. Tracking implementation has been successful and many suspect vehicles have yielded after realizing a vehicle tracking device has been deployed. The total cost of a three-year term is not to exceed $224,657.
In FY2024, this contract came to a total (grant-funded) cost of $165,308, including the launchers and GPS devices, initial installation, setup, 2-year warranty, user training, data storage, and tracking platform access. Annual costs in FY2025 are $26,400. In this reporting period, there have been no formal complaints, no reported violations of use, and no Public Records Act requests related to this system. No data was shared externally during the reporting period, and no technology-use violations occurred.
eCitation Devices. On March 14, 2022, Council approved the acquisition of handheld electronic citation devices with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology for the purposes of traffic violation enforcement by police officers. 8 When used by staff, the device’s camera captures license plate images, which are processed through OCR to extract vehicle make and model 7 City Council Meeting 04/15/2024, Agenda Item #11,
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=13591 8 City Council Meeting 3/14/2022, Agenda Item #9, PDF Page 113, https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/8/agendas-minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/city-council- agendas-minutes/2022/20220314/20220314pccsm-amended-final-revised-ppt.pdf information, eliminating the need for manual entry into the records management system (RMS).
In FY 2025, the total contract and maintenance costs to the General Fund was $23,714.
The Police Department issued over 1,468 electronic citations in FY 2025. By implementing electronic citations, citations are automatically uploaded to the Police Records Management System (RMS), reducing staff time required to manually enter citations thereby effective at achieving its intended purpose. Additionally, citations are electronically uploaded to the Santa Clara Traffic Court system. To date, there have been no formal complaints, no reported violations of use, and no Public Records Act requests related to this system.
Fixed Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR). On April 3, 2023, Council approved the contract with Flock Safety to implement fixed ALPR surveillance technology as well as approved a use policy for the new camera equipment 11. In December 2024, Council approved the deployment of 10 additional ALPR cameras. ALPR technology uses a combination of cameras and computer software to scan the license plates of passing vehicles and other vehicle characteristics such as make, model, type, and color. The technology provides real-time alerts when stolen or wanted cars enter an area and provides enhanced investigative capabilities when a crime has already occurred. The contract cost in FY 2025 was $90,808. This was paid using a combination of COPS grant funding ($52,500), State BSCC grant funding ($35,000), and the General Fund ($3,308).
ALPR data sharing among local law enforcement partners allows agencies to investigate collaboratively, identify and apprehend multi-jurisdictional offenders, or those who commit crimes in one jurisdiction but reside in another. The City currently has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with local agencies listed in Attachment A, where data is shared for law enforcement investigative purposes related to a specific criminal investigation. The Department has taken steps to minimize any potential misuse by limiting data sharing strictly with local law enforcement agencies per the MOU, and requiring them to abide by California law, which prohibits sharing data with Federal or out-of-state agencies.
To date, there have been no formal complaints, no reported violations of use. There have recently been some concerns raised regarding Flock data sharing among agencies, but this is not applicable to Palo Alto. The department received one Public Records Act Request during the report period.12 The information included:
11 City Council Meeting 4/3/2023, Item#11 https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/DocView.aspx?id=66523&repo=r- 704298fc&searchid=15b10e8f-5b90-406d-84b1-703a4bee0062
12 Public Records Request for ALPR Data 08/14/2025 https://www.paloalto.gov/files/assets/public/v/1/city- manager/surveillance-technology/pra-flock-technology.pdf - Policy 462: Automated License Plate Reader
- Contract between Flock and City of Palo Alto
- List of agencies with whom PAPD shares data pursuant to MOU The use of real-time alerts has aided in the recovery of stolen and wanted vehicles, while investigative searches have supported the identification and apprehension of criminal suspects and the safe recovery of missing persons. The technology has been effective at achieving its intended purpose. There were no complaints during the reporting period.
TRANSPORTATION
Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) for Parking Enforcement. In February 2021, Council approved the use of license plate recognition technology to be used for parking enforcement and permit management. 15 ALPR technology captures images of license plates to identify vehicle information and track parking time.
During the reporting period, there have been no formal complaints filed, violations of its use, or PRA requests. In assessing its effectiveness, ALPR has been successful in supporting City Residential Preferential Parking (RPP) programs provide both enforcement and permit management efficiencies. Images of license plates are only utilized as supporting documentation when parking time limits are exceeded. All other images are routinely purged in compliance with the City surveillance policy adopted for this program. To date, there have been no formal complaints, no reported violations of use, and no Public Records Act requests related to this system. No data was shared externally during the reporting period, and no technology-use violations occurred. Ongoing costs are included in combined Duncan & LAZ costs. The total annual contract cost is $7,500, funded by the General Fund and Parking Program Funds.
Traffic Signal Detection Hardware. On February 6, 2023, Council approved the contract with Iteris for traffic signal operations. 16 The devices are only able to detect when a vehicle is approaching an intersection to serve the vehicle a green light phase. Data collected is used to inform appropriate traffic control measures or roadway improvements, signal timings, pedestrian, and bicycle roadway improvements. These collectively optimize traffic signal operations. This technology as used in Palo Alto does not capture images, sound, or any identifying information. In some instances, live or sample video feeds may be used in the configuration and testing to make sure detection capabilities are set up and operating correctly.
Upon completion of configuration, the live video feed is turned off. This technology has been effective in detecting vehicle presence and allowing for optimal signal operations. In the past, 15 City Council Meeting 2/22/2021, https://www.paloalto.gov/files/assets/public/v/2/agendas-minutes- reports/reports/city-manager-reports-cmrs/year-archive/2021/id-11492.pdf 16 City Council Meeting 2/06/2023, https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/DocView.aspx?id=61651&repo=r- 704298fc&searchid=cdf20580-4988-4264-adbb-96e9cf87224b
staff have used live video feeds to observe real-time traffic conditions to improve traffic signal operations.
During this reporting period, a PRA was requested on 04/24/25 for video or camera footage on the intersection of E. Charleston and Middlefield Road. No information was provided other than a notification that video footage is not collected. Additionally, there have also been multiple requests annually, typically though email and not an official PRA. The contract cost is $80,000, which is funded by CIP PL-05030. Annual ongoing maintenance cost is less than $50,000, funded by the Electric Utilities maintenance fund.
Traffic Data Collection Cameras. In April 2021, Council approved the use of video technology for traffic data collection19. The low-resolution is used solely to capture bicycle, pedestrian, parking occupancy, and vehicle turning-movement counts. This data helps inform appropriate traffic control measures, roadway enhancements, signal timing adjustments, and pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements. The system does not collect or retain audio, high-resolution images, location data, or any other personally identifiable information of individuals.
During this reporting period, no complaints or concerns were submitted. Cameras are installed only for the duration of the data-collection period and are accompanied by visible hang-tags labeled “Traffic Data Camera,” along with the service provider’s name and contact phone number. This technology supplies Office of Transportation with data that is expensive to collect manually, while minimizing the potential for error. The total cost was for a 4-year term is not to exceed $200,000 funded by the Capital Improvement Program and the General Fund.
TENANTS ON CITY PROPERTY
ADA’s café Security Cameras. On June 16, 2025, Council approved the Surveillance Use Policy for Security Cameras at Ada’s Café at Mitchell Park Community Center and Library. 20 Incidents of vandalism to Ada’s property have increased in the past year, and the owners have an interest in installing cameras to deter such incidents. According to the owners, some of the vandalized items include the cafe’s outdoors furniture and equipment. The goal of this technology is to enhance safety and security both inside and outside Ada’s café. The surveillance system captures real- time video and audio of the interior and exterior areas. Cameras are positioned to monitor key entry points to monitor key entry points and café seating areas.
Staff at Ada have indicated feeling safe. Surveillance footage will be accessible only to designated café management and City police personnel for law enforcement purposes. To date, there have 19 City Council Meeting 4/5/2021, https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/2/agendas-minutes- reports/reports/city-manager-reports-cmrs/year-archive/2021/id-11985.pdf 20 City Council Meeting 06/16/2025, Item #9
https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/DocView.aspx?id=188934&repo=r-704298fc&searchid=02b387e4-a670-44f6- 9b47-cdbcc21f9f5d
been no formal complaints, no reported violations of use, and no Public Records Act requests related to this system. No data was shared externally during the reporting period, and no technology-use violations occurred. There is no cost to the City for this project.
EXEMPT SURVEILLANCE EQUIPMENT INCLUDED FOR INFORMATION ONLY The surveillance ordinance excludes the following surveillance technology, among others, from reporting:
Any technology that collects information exclusively on or regarding City employees or contractors;
Any technology used as part of the Foothill Fire Early Warning System to detect fires within the following area:
oWest Side: Skyline Blvd (Hwy 35) from Route 84 (Woodside Rd/La Honda Rd.) to Hwy 9 oNorth Side: Route 84 from Skyline to Alameda de las Pulgas oEast Side: Alameda de las Pulgas to Santa Cruz Ave to Junipero Serra Rd. To Foothill Expwy
oSouthside Side: Draw a line from the intersection of Hwy 9 and Hwy 35 to the intersection of Foothill Expwy at Magdalena.
The following surveillance system falls under these exemptions but is included in this report for Council awareness.
Foothill Fire Safety Cameras. As part of the improvement to the Foothills Management Plan and the Office of Emergency Services deployed several AlertWildfire cameras in the Foothills for early detection of wildfires as part of an interagency and countywide effort.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Presenting this information to the public, parallel to its transmittal to the City Council, ensures that stakeholders throughout the community remain apprised of the City’s ongoing acquisition and work in surveillance technologies and privacy protections.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This item is an informational report with no action required by Council, and therefore it is not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - List of agencies sharing Police ALPR data within MOU terms APPROVED BY:
Ed Shikada, City Manager