City Council and Authorities Concurrent
March 24, 2026

City of Santa ClaraAgenda Report1500 Warburton AvenueSanta Clara, CA 95050santaclaraca.gov@SantaClaraCity24-661 Agenda Date: 12/3/2024REPORT TO CITY COUNCILSUBJECTAction on Purchase Order with Insight Public Sector for FLOCK Automated License Plate ReaderSystemsCOUNCIL PILLARDeliver and Enhance High Quality Efficient Services and InfrastructureBACKGROUNDAutomatic license plate readers (ALPRs) use a combination of cameras and computer software toscan the license plates of every vehicle passing by. ALPRs can be mounted on stationary poles, suchas road signs and traffic lights, as well as on handheld devices and mobile patrol vehicles. ALPRtechnology logs the time, date, and GPS coordinates of each scan and captures images of vehicles.Unlike red light cameras (which the City of Santa Clara does not have), ALPRs do not haveillumination to aid in identifying the driver or occupants of the vehicle, nor are they integrated withfacial recognition solutions to identify registered owners or passengers.ALPR technology shall only be used for legitimate law enforcement or public safety purposes with aneed and right to know the information provided by an ALPR to:Locate stolen or wanted vehicles and vehicles that are the subject of a law enforcementinvestigation (e.g., identifying a crime, gathering evidence, working together withprosecutors to achieve a conviction in court, etc.);Locate and apprehend suspects that are sought by law enforcement;Locate witnesses and victims of violent crime;Locate at-risk missing persons (including responding to Amber and Silver Alerts);Protect participants at special events; and,Protect critical infrastructure sites.No other uses shall be allowed.ALPRs process each license plate against a designated “hot list.” These queries happenautomatically in real-time, although officers can also query license plates manually via their mobiledata computer in their patrol vehicle. When law enforcement receives a “hot hit,” they verify the dataprovided by ALPR technology using other law enforcement information sources to confirm the vehicleand justification before making contact. To the fullest extent possible, law enforcement personnelvisually confirm that the plate characters generated by the ALPR technology correspond with thedigital image of the license in question.Pursuant to Senate Bill 31, on September 27, 2021, the Police Department conducted a virtual TownCity of Santa Clara Printed on 11/27/2024Page 1 of 4powered by Legistar™ 24-661 Agenda Date: 12/3/2024Hall Meeting on ALPR; the recording was made available to the public on the Police Department’swebsite and social media platforms.Subsequently, the Department’s ALPR Policy was approved byCity Council on October 26, 2021 (Attachment 1 - Report to Council 21-1122; Attachment 2 - LexipolPolicy 428). The requirements of the state law applicable to use, access, maintenance, disclosure,etc., of ALPR hardware, software, and resulting data, are incorporated into the Police Department’sPolicy 428. The Police Department’s Policy Manual is available online atwww.scpd.org<http://www.scpd.org>.In 2021, the Police Department initiated an ALPR Pilot Program with Flock Safety Solutions(FLOCK), and integrated this pole-mounted technology at strategically selected locations in the Cityto capture large volumes of traffic at major ingress and egress locations along the City’s borders; theCity does not advertise the exact locations. Since that time, the number of cameras has grown to 17and $127,723 has been spent to install, lease and/or move this equipment. The ALPR Pilot Programdemonstrated the power of additional investigative evidence positively impacting clearance rates andresulting in a higher success rate in solving crimes. These costs have been paid utilizing CaliforniaBoard of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) funds; however, there are limited remainingBSCC funds available for these types of purchases.In 2023, the Police Department received 17,527 “hot hit” alerts collectively among the 17 cameras. Ofthose, 765 were for stolen vehicles, 101 were for vehicles associated with felony crimes (e.g.,domestic violence, armed and dangerous, evading law enforcement, etc.), 16,354 were for stolenlicense plates, and 307 were for custom alerts. Custom alerts include vehicles associated with activeSanta Clara Police Department investigations, wanted subjects, or suspect vehicles identified fromneighboring jurisdiction bulletins. In addition, Police Department personnel conducted 20,889searches over the same timeframe, searching for vehicle license plates associated with crimes in theCity. In turn, the Police Department made 64 arrests for various violations, including stolen vehicles,domestic violence, robbery, and homicide.DISCUSSIONThe recommendation in this report to use a cooperative purchasing agreement is made pursuant toCity Code Section 2.105.270(c), which states that the City may, without observing formal biddingrequirements, “contract with a vendor under a contract awarded using preestablished cooperativepurchasing agreements, when such agreement resulted from a competitive bid process that meets orexceeds the City’s competitive bid process, as determined by the Purchasing Division Manager.”In May 2023, Insight Public Sector (IPS) was awarded an agreement through a Request forProposals (RFP) process conducted by Omnia Partners, with Cobb County as the lead publicagency. The Purchasing Division Manager determined that the RFP met or exceeded the City’scompetitive requirements. In June 2024, staff issued a purchase order to IPS for the lease of anadditional 15 pole-mounted cameras (bringing the total to 32 cameras, including 17 from the ALPRPilot Program) at a cost of $93,250. These additional 15 cameras were purchased using availablefunds in the Police Department’s operating budget.Staff is now seeking City Council authorization to issue additional purchase orders to IPS to renewthe lease and software subscriptions for the existing 32 ALPR cameras, purchase an additional 15cameras for the Levi’s Stadium footprint (for a total of 47 cameras), and acquire additional as-neededservices. The total aggregate amount is $735,900 to cover all cameras and services throughNovember 23, 2028. Table 1 provides a breakdown of the costs.City of Santa Clara Printed on 11/27/2024Page 2 of 4powered by Legistar™ 24-661 Agenda Date: 12/3/2024Table 1DescriptionFundingSourceAmountAdditional 15 City Cameras (Currently inImplementation)Police DeptBudget$93,250Software Renewal Costs for 32 City Cameras(February 24, 2025 - November 23, 2028)Police Dept.Budget$281,250Additional 15 Cameras for Levi’s Stadium(specific cost dependent on implementationdate through November 23, 2028)Stadium* $178,750Enhanced LPR Software Purchase ($15,000per year x 4 years)Police DeptBudget andStadium* $60,000PROJECTED SPEND TOTAL $613,250Contingency (20%) $122,650TOTAL AGGREGATE NOT-TO-EXCEEDAMOUNT $735,900*Please note that funding sources designated as “Stadium” are paid from the City’s Non-Departmental budget in the GeneralFund and reimbursed by Forty Niners SC Stadium Company (StadCo) and Santa Clara Stadium Authority (Stadium Authority).There are plans for incorporating ALPR technology in the Levi’s Stadium exterior footprint, whichincludes parking lots and the streets surrounding the stadium. The Police Department is seeking topurchase 15 cameras which would bring the total camera count to 47 cameras. These additional 15cameras will be reimbursed by StadCo and Stadium Authority for their respective NFL and Non-NFLevents at Levi’s Stadium. The billing for the Levi’s Stadium cameras would be calculated similarly tothat of the city-wide cameras (installation plus $3,000 annual expense per camera) estimated at$45,000 annually. For the cameras used in the Levi’s Stadium footprint, installation and annual costswill be funded from the City’s General Fund Non-Departmental Stadium appropriation, where publicsafety costs for Stadium events are budgeted, offset by reimbursement from the Stadium. It isanticipated that the Stadium appropriation can cover this expense; however; a budget amendmentwill be brought forward at a later date if necessary.Additionally, the Police Department is planning to add the enhanced LPR software capabilities todetect suspect vehicles that frequently travel together (“Convoy Search”), conduct vehicle imagesearch (“Visual Search”), and link suspect vehicles to multiple incidents (“Multi Geo Search”). Thisexpense is the same regardless of the number of cameras, and costs can be split between the PoliceDepartment’s operating budget and the City’s General Fund Non-Departmental Stadium budget at aper camera rate (e.g., $15,000/47 = $320 per camera annually).Data captured by the cameras is securely stored by the vendor (not by the City) until such time as thePolice Department accesses or downloads an excerpt from the camera’s feed for evidentiarypurposes. The footage is held by the vendor for a period of 30 days, during which time it can beaccessed only by authorized and trained Police Department personnel, in the course of legitimate lawenforcement activity. The data can be accessed by other law enforcement agencies within the Flocksystem that the Police Department has agreed to share with. If it is not downloaded during this periodCity of Santa Clara Printed on 11/27/2024Page 3 of 4powered by Legistar™ 24-661 Agenda Date: 12/3/2024of time, it will be deleted. This downloaded data is then retained by the Police Department inassociation with their investigatory file materials, in accordance with the applicable record retentionschedule.ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWThe action being considered does not constitute a “project” within the meaning of the CaliforniaEnvironmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378(b)(5) in that it is agovernmental organizational or administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect changesin the environment.FISCAL IMPACTThe aggregate maximum not-to-exceed amount of all future purchase orders is $735,900, subject tothe appropriation of funds.It is anticipated that the Police Department operating budget will have sufficient funds to cover theongoing expense of the ALPR cameras throughout the City. The cameras used in the Levi’s Stadiumfootprint and related installation, annual costs and percentage of the enhanced software would bepaid from the City’s Non-Departmental Stadium budget in the General Fund and reimbursed byStadCo and Stadium Authority. Funding for future years will be incorporated into the standardoperating budget process.COORDINATIONThis report was coordinated with the Finance and Information Technology Departments and CityAttorney’s Office.PUBLIC CONTACTPublic contact was made by posting the Council agenda on the City’s official-notice bulletin boardoutside City Hall Council Chambers. A complete agenda packet is available on the City’s websiteand in the City Clerk’s Office at least 72 hours prior to a Regular Meeting and 24 hours prior to aSpecial Meeting. A hard copy of any agenda report may be requested by contacting the City Clerk’sOffice at (408) 615-2220, [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> or at thepublic information desk at any City of Santa Clara public library.RECOMMENDATIONAuthorize the City Manager or designee to execute purchase orders with Insight Public Sector,through the Omnia Partners cooperative purchasing agreement, for the lease and/or purchase ofFLOCK ALPR cameras, software enhancements, subscription services, and professional services,with a total aggregate amount not-to-exceed $735,900 to cover all cameras and services throughNovember 23, 2028, subject to the appropriation of funds and in a final form approved by the CityAttorney.Reviewed by: Pat Nikolai, Chief of PoliceApproved by: Jovan D. Grogan, City ManagerATTACHMENTS1. RTC 21-11222. Lexipol Policy 428City of Santa Clara Printed on 11/27/2024Page 4 of 4powered by Legistar™