150 E. San Fernando St., San José, CA 95112-3580 tel (408) 808-2000 www.sjpl.org/youthcommission
February 11, 2026
Dear Honorable Mayor and City Council,
On behalf of the San José Youth Commission, we respectfully request your consideration of the immediate termination of the City of San José's (“City”) contract with Flock Group, Inc (Contract No. OC-001341) to operate Automated Intelligence-powered Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) cameras. This termination is a necessary step to protect the citizens of our city from unauthorized data-sharing with federal agencies, as reported through numerous outlets regarding data leaks from other jurisdictions contracting with Flock Group, Inc.
It is our recommendation that the City Council pursue the following steps:
1. Terminate the City's contract with Flock Group, Inc. effective immediately and pursue legal recourse to address breach of contract; and
2. Reinstitute ALPRs if/when an alternative is identified, contingent on selection criteria for a new vendor that includes a high security system and infrastructure protections for safeguarding San José citizen data from any unauthorized use, data breach, and security attacks including from malicious actors, as well as verification of business experience that reflects the highest standards for client security; and
3. When/if a suitable contractor is found, all city staff and Councilmembers must publicly disclose any relation to said contractor, including but not limited to, prior employment, donations, and other support.
BACKGROUND
City officials have publicly committed to not collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This includes a unanimous vote by the City Council on January 13 to prohibit ICE usage of city properties and Bulletin #2025-003, released by the SJPD, stating that the Department is “committed to ensuring undocumented immigrants do not fear harassment, arrest, or deportation when they interact with members of the Department, or when they call to report a crime as a victim or witness.”
1 However, Flock Group's failure to guarantee the security of its data and proper compliance with state law risks creating a crisis of public trust for the poor- quality standards being enforced by the vendor.
An October 2025 report by the Center for Human Rights at the University of Washington revealed that Flock, without informing clients, had revealed data to Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) as part of an undisclosed pilot program.
2 In Santa Cruz, Flock databases were accessed
over 2,700 times related to immigration enforcement cases; ICE-related searches took place over
1 https://info.sjpd.org/records/pc-13650_library/Training%20Bulletins/Training%20Bulletin%202025- 003%20U.S.%20Immigration%20and%20Customs%20Enforcement.pdf 2 https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2025/10/Leaving-the-Door-Wide-Open- Flock-WA.pdf
YOUTH COMMISSION
900 times.3 Past improper redaction of Flock data resulted in over 2.3 million license plates being leaked to the public, compiled at the website HaveIBeenFlocked.4
Flock's own systems show that as of January 30, 2026, SJPD data is connected to over 380 different law enforcement systems via the Flock network.5 If even one of these government agencies within this network were to share data with ICE, the entirety of San José's data could be open to federal agencies. Multiple agencies have access to San José's data through the Flock system, including the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, the Orange County Sheriff's Office, and the Los Angeles Police Department, which in the past have shared data, in violation of California state law, with ICE and related agencies. 6 In a city with over 40% foreign-born residents
7 and increasing fear among Latino/Hispanic and
Asian communities regarding increasingly violent and expansive immigration enforcement actions, the Youth Commission advocates for the City to ensure all measures are enacted for the continued protection of all residents, including the most vulnerable communities.
We are concerned by Flock Group's failure to disclose its creation of a secret "pilot program" in which ICE had access to data in breach of contract Section 2.1. to effectively protect the data of residents of San José from being accessed by other agencies, including ICE. Flock Group must indemnify the City for these breaches. Any company that lacks the ability to protect its databases, has initiated "pilot programs" without City consent, and allows channels through which federal immigration enforcement could access data cannot be trusted with the future of San José.
PRECEDENT AND PATH FORWARD
Cambridge, Massachusetts; Hillsborough, North Carolina; Staunton, Virginia; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Flagstaff, Arizona; Eugene, Oregon; Denver, Colorado; Austin, Texas; and the City of Santa Cruz, California, have moved to terminate or otherwise restrict their contracts with Flock Group.
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
We recognize that technologies such as ALPRs can serve as a useful tool in reducing crime and relieving workload for law enforcement. We acknowledge that the termination of the Flock Group contract will impact SJPD staff capacity. However, Flock Safety is not the only
3 https://santacruzlocal.org/2026/01/13/santa-cruz-leaders-vote-to-terminate-contract-with-flock 4 https://san.com/cc/flock-threatens-website-hosting-license-plate-data-accidentally-leaked-by-cops/ 5 https://transparency.flocksafety.com/san-jose-ca-pd
6 https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2025/06/california-police-sharing-license-plate-reader-data 7 https://www.sanjose.org/meetings/quick-guides/san-jose-at-a-glance 8 https://www.cambridgema.gov/news/2025/12/statementontheflocksafetyalprcontracttermination
9 https://santacruzlocal.org/2026/01/13/santa-cruz-leaders-vote-to-terminate-contract-with-flock 10 https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/city-hillsborough-flock-safety-cameras-20251111 11 https://www.ci.staunton.va.us/Home/Components/News/News/2564/71 12 https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2025/12/11/cambridge-ends-contract-for-license-plate-cameras-after- breach-of-trust
13 https://www.wkbn.com/news/local-news/city-bans-flock-cameras-as-lawsuit-continues-in-another 14 https://www.kezi.com/news/local/eugene-halts-use-of-flock-cameras-amid-data-privacy- concerns/article_4b5a2371-0428-4d8a-9389-3be77ccb0b77.html 15 https://www.denverpost.com/2026/02/24/denver-flock-license-plate-cameras-contract-axon 16 https://www.kut.org/crime-justice/2026-02-12/austin-tx-apd-flock-cameras-license-plate-readers contributor to declining crime rates. FBI Crime Data shows that violent crime trends within San Jose have largely remained stable, both prior to and after Flock camera installation.17 Though there are many factors that contribute to crime reduction and it is difficult to explicitly define what impact Flock cameras have had on crime rates, it is our perspective that the benefits of Flock as a contractor do not outweigh the significant risks to public safety. Considering that there are other companies which provide services analogous to Flock, and that the City of San Jose has already set aside an operating budget for ALPR camera operation, it is our belief that there is no inherent advantage to working with Flock Safety that could not be provided to the city through working with another contractor.
We are gravely concerned about the continued use of this vendor and its impact on public trust in local law enforcement and the City.
As youth leaders, our 2025-2026 work plan identified advocating for immigrant youth and families by promoting support resources including, but not limited to, workshops, language accessibility, and safety.
18 It is our urgent recommendation, as initiated by resident and community leader Elizabeth Agramont-Justiniano, for the City to follow the example of other cities and ensure the protection of San Jose residents.
We firmly urge you to take all steps necessary to end this contract and to begin the process to switch to another ALPR provider that can be trusted to secure San José residents' data, with said transition occurring with as much rapidity as possible to limit impacts to the SJPD and public safety.
We agree with the recommendations for the March meeting of the City Council under Section
4.1 of the agenda, including (a) 1-3; (b) 1-3; and (c). We commend city staff and the San Jose Police Department for actively taking these steps to protect the data of San Jose citizens. We reiterate that the danger with Flock is not that the San Jose Police Department, which has acted in full concert with public trust, will act in an unbecoming matter to allow data to be leaked; the concern is that Flock Safety’s systems automatically share San Jose data with agencies that have been shown to leak data, and that Flock’s own data security is lax.
The San José Youth Commission remains committed to actively advocating for policies that protect the safety, privacy, and civil liberties of all San José residents, particularly our most vulnerable communities.
Respectfully,
/ s / / s /
MARIAN KUCHAREWSKI MICAH CHUNG
Chair Youth Commissioner, District 8
San José Youth Commission San José Youth Commission
17 https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/explorer/crime/query 18 https://www.sjpl.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/142/2025/10/Youth-Commission-FY-2025-2026-Work-Plan- AC.pdf