Full Notification

February 25, 2026

The City of El Cerrito contracts with Flock Safety for forty license plate reading (LPR) cameras. LPR cameras function as an early warning system for wanted cars as well as an investigative aid in the aftermath of crime. These cameras take photographs of the rear of vehicles and read the license plate. The system does not search or contain information about the driver or owners of photographed vehicles. The El Cerrito Police Department (ECPD) allows data sharing with other California law enforcement agencies, including with state, county, and municipal agencies.

Following recent news articles about Flock Safety contracts in Richmond and Mountain View, ECPD staff began a comprehensive audit of LPR network usage. Staff discovered some issues with network use, similar to those reported by other agencies. Staff discovered that during the period between when the first cameras were installed (June 2023) and when ECPD staff took administrative control of the system (August 2023), law enforcement agencies from outside of California were able to search El Cerrito license plate photographs. The federal agencies included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the GSA Office of the Inspector General, and the National Park Service. When ECPD assumed control of the system, administrators set data sharing permissions for only non-federal agencies within California.

Since August 2023, staff identified two situations in which federal agencies queried the El Cerrito LPR network. Between September 2023 and November 2023, the United States Postal Inspection Service searched for license plates that queried El Cerrito license plate photographs. On two days in May 2025, the Loma Linda Healthcare System Veterans Affairs Police searched for license plates that queried El Cerrito license plate photographs.

ECPD staff met with Flock Safety representatives to get answers about how these sharing incidents occurred. Flock Safety reported that early settings may have allowed the United Sates Postal Inspection Service to show up in state only searches, a problem the company fixed in 2023. They also reported that the system may have misidentified the Loma Linda Healthcare Systems Veterans Affairs Police as a state agency, allowing temporary access to license plate searches in California. Neither Flock Safety nor ECPD found any other instances of federal or out-of-state sharing.

Based on this review, no federal immigration agencies searched ECPD LPR records. Flock Safety has instituted additional safeguards to prevent recurrences of these incidents.
We, at the El Cerrito Police Department, regret that our license plate photographs were available to out-of-state and federal law enforcement agencies. We have been satisfied with the response from Flock Safety and the safeguards and changes they have instituted to keep our data secure from unauthorized access.

The El Cerrito Police Department will be holding a public meeting about our findings on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, at 4:00 pm at the Hana Gardens Community Room located at 10870 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito, CA. Our staff members will be in attendance to answer questions and concerns from our community.

For more information about how LPR camera systems should be used in California, consider reading the following guidance from the California Attorney General:
https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-advises-california-law-enforcement-legal-uses-and

For more information on how the El Cerrito Police Department shares data, consider visiting the ECPD Transparency Portal:
https://www.elcerrito.gov/1675/Flock-ALPR-Transparency-Portal