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License-plate readers · San Mateo County

San Mateo County

Using license-plate readers · 5 agencies documented

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Menlo Park Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
35
35 cameras under contract since 2024, per KQED, Aug. 2026.
  1. Aug. 2026 After an audit found about 700 noncompliant searches by NCRIC from Feb. 2025 to June 2026, the department voided its data-sharing agreements and required partners to sign new ones. (KQED, Aug. 28, 2026)

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

East Palo Alto Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
25
25 active cameras, per San Mateo Daily Journal, April 2026.
  1. Dec. 2024 Cameras began operating. (San Mateo Daily Journal, date not shown)
  2. Dec. 2025 Council approved a three-year Flock contract. (San Mateo Daily Journal, date not shown)
  3. April 2026 Council voted 3-2 to drop a reconsideration item (Lincoln, Dinan, Barragan for removal; Romero, Abrica against). (San Mateo Daily Journal, date not shown)
  4. April 21, 2026 Council voted to keep the contract. (Local News Matters (Bay City News), April 22, 2026; San Mateo Daily Journal, date not shown)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Some event dates here are inferred from weekday references (such as “Tuesday”) in news reports; confirm from meeting records.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Redwood City Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
  1. Aug. 2026 Department disclosed improper outside access dating to 2023 after Flock enabled national lookup without permission. (KQED, Aug. 28, 2026)

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

San Mateo County Sheriff's Office

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
109
109 cameras as of March 30, 2026 per the civil grand jury, covering unincorporated areas (except Broadmoor), Portola Valley, San Carlos and Millbrae. Half Moon Bay (14) and Woodside (26) are separate Flock contracts operated by the sheriff and are not in the 109.
Contract
Flock Safety: $1,111,700 total not-to-exceed, June 8, 2023 - Nov. 30, 2028 · from June 8, 2023 · to Nov. 30, 2028 · approved by San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Nov. 14, 2023 · Amendment raising the agreement by $942,230 to expand ALPR to unincorporated areas, including the coast (7), Emerald Hills/Ladera/Edgewood (15), Eichler Highlands (8), Burlingame Hills/North County (7) and North Fair Oaks (19). (County of San Mateo (Legistar), Nov. 14, 2023; County of San Mateo (Legistar), Nov. 14, 2023)
Data sharing
Per the 2026 civil grand jury's review of Flock network audits: 299 network shares (Feb. 26, 2026) and 300 (April 13, 2026), sharing guideline reduced in February 2026 to adjacent counties (ca4-smcgj-2026). Not from the office's own page.
  1. June 13, 2023 The board moved up to $220,000 in district Measure K funds to the sheriff for its Flock ALPR project in unincorporated areas (Ray Mueller moved, Warren Slocum seconded). (County of San Mateo (Legistar), June 13, 2023)
  2. Nov. 14, 2023 The board approved the Flock amendment raising the total to $1,111,700 (Ray Mueller moved, David J. Canepa seconded). (County of San Mateo (Legistar), Nov. 14, 2023)
  3. Aug. 3, 2026 The civil grand jury reported the office shared with 299 to 300 agencies in early 2026 and had narrowed sharing to adjacent counties in February; it rated the office's policy current but found no stated retention period and no California-law terms in the contract. (2025-2026 San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury, Aug. 3, 2026)

From agency records.

Daly City Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
44
44 ALPR cameras as of March 30, 2026, per the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury.
  1. Aug. 3, 2026 The civil grand jury listed 44 Daly City cameras and said the department's Flock transparency portal was not enabled, so sharing figures were unavailable. It rated audits strong and regular but unpublished, found the retention period in the department's ALPR policy did not match the period in its Flock contract or portal, and noted the policy still referenced NCRIC. (2025-2026 San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury, Aug. 3, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Vendor taken from the grand jury's reference to the department's Flock portal. No contract or council record pulled.

From agency records.

Statewide

  1. Jan. 1, 2016 SB 34 (Statutes of 2015, Chapter 532), codified at Civil Code section 1798.90.5 and following, took effect. It requires ALPR operators and end users to keep a usage and privacy policy, log access, and share ALPR information only with public agencies. The Attorney General reads 'public agency' to exclude out-of-state and federal agencies. (California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, Oct. 27, 2023)
  2. Feb. 13, 2020 The California State Auditor released report 2019-118 on the Fresno Police Department, LAPD, Marin County Sheriff's Office and Sacramento County Sheriff's Office. It found none of the four audited staff searches of ALPR images, three of the four shared images without first checking the recipient's right and need to know, and 70 percent of surveyed agencies ran or planned to run ALPR. It recommended a state model policy and a maximum retention period set in law. (California State Auditor, Feb. 13, 2020)
  3. Oct. 27, 2023 The Attorney General's Division of Law Enforcement issued Information Bulletin 2023-DLE-06, telling state and local agencies that SB 34 bars sharing ALPR information with out-of-state and federal agencies, with model policy guidance. (California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, Oct. 27, 2023; California Office of the Attorney General, Oct. 3, 2025)
  4. April 2, 2024 Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a California Highway Patrol contract with Flock Safety for about 480 cameras: about 290 on Oakland surface streets and 190 on East Bay state highways, with a 28-day retention period. (Office of Governor Gavin Newsom, April 2, 2024)
  5. June 18, 2025 CalMatters and The Markup reported, from a search log obtained by Oakland Privacy covering April 28 to May 30, 2025, that 10 agencies, nine in Southern California and six in Los Angeles County, ran searches for ICE, including LAPD; the Orange and San Diego County sheriffs ran searches for Border Patrol. Riverside County logged four 'hsinvest' searches but said they were narcotics cases. (The Markup / CalMatters, June 18, 2025)
  6. Oct. 2025 Gov. Newsom vetoed SB 274, which would have required deletion of some ALPR data after 60 days, officer training, documented case reasons for searches and random Department of Justice audits. His veto message said the 60-day limit could impede investigations, particularly cold cases. (CalMatters, Oct. 3, 2025)
  7. Oct. 3, 2025 Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a petition for a writ of mandate in San Diego County Superior Court against the City of El Cajon, its police department and Chief Jeremiah Larson, alleging the department shared ALPR data with agencies in 26 other states in violation of SB 34. The AG's office said it had contacted 18 agencies about possible violations since 2024. (California Office of the Attorney General, Oct. 3, 2025; CalMatters, Oct. 3, 2025)
  8. Nov. 24, 2025 CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee wrote to Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley that data from CHP's Flock cameras may not be shared with federal officials, citing the contract's bar on sharing outside California. (KTVU FOX 2, Nov. 24, 2025)
  9. Jan. 2026 The Attorney General filed a motion in California v. City of El Cajon asking the court to order the city to stop sharing ALPR data with out-of-state agencies; the AG said the data reached more than 100 agencies outside California. A hearing was set for Feb. 13, 2026. No ruling was found in sources checked as of Oct. 17, 2026. (California Office of the Attorney General, Jan. 21, 2026; NBC 7 San Diego, Jan. 22, 2026; NBC 7 San Diego, Feb. 8, 2026)
  10. Aug. 31, 2026 SB 1013 (Cervantes), similar to the vetoed SB 274, passed the Senate but did not receive an Assembly floor vote before the session ended; CalMatters reported Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry held it. CalMatters counted this as the fifth straight year without new ALPR rules; nearly 40 law enforcement agencies and unions opposed the bill. (CalMatters (republished by LAist), Sept. 3, 2026; CalMatters Digital Democracy, date not shown)
  11. Oct. 2026 A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge dismissed a challenge to San Jose's ALPR network, rejecting claims that warrantless searches of ALPR data violate the state constitution's privacy and search provisions (outside this researcher's counties; recorded as statewide legal context). (San Jose Spotlight (republished by Local News Matters), Oct. 7, 2026)

State agencies

California Highway Patrol

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety, Vendor not named in source
Cameras
Count not documented
No statewide count found. The 2024 East Bay contract covers about 480 Flock cameras (about 290 Oakland streets, 190 East Bay highways); CHP also runs mobile ALPR on patrol vehicles under General Order 81.1.
Data sharing
CHP's contract with Flock bars sharing with the federal government or any entity outside California, per the commissioner's Nov. 2025 letter (ca1-ktvu-chp-letter). Vehicle Code 2413 bars making data available to non-law-enforcement agencies or individuals.
  1. Oct. 2020 General Order 81.1 (revised October 2020) sets CHP's ALPR rules: mobile ALPR data is kept 60 days and then purged, access is limited to personnel with an investigative need, and ALPR use is reported each year in the auto theft report to the Legislature. (California Highway Patrol, Oct. 2020)
  2. Oct. 2020 Vehicle Code 2413 limits CHP retention of plate-reader data to 60 days except for evidence or felony investigations, bars selling the data, and limits its use to locating vehicles or people suspected in a public offense. (California Legislature (via california.public.law), date not shown)
  3. Feb. 8, 2024 The Oaklandside reported CHP would run Oakland's 300-camera Flock network funded by a $1.2 million state loan; CHP keeps data 60 days while Oakland and Flock agreed to 30. (The Oaklandside, Feb. 8, 2024)
  4. April 2, 2024 The governor's office announced the CHP-Flock contract for about 480 cameras in Oakland and the East Bay with 28-day retention. (Office of Governor Gavin Newsom, April 2, 2024)
  5. Nov. 24, 2025 The CHP commissioner told Flock in writing that CHP camera data cannot be shared with federal officials. (KTVU FOX 2, Nov. 24, 2025)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Retention differs by source: 60 days (GO 81.1, mobile ALPR; Vehicle Code 2413 cap), 28 days (governor's release on the East Bay Flock network), 60 days (Oaklandside on CHP practice). These may describe different systems.
  • No CHP Flock deployment in the ten southern counties was found; not checked through CHP contract records (searches exhausted).

From agency records.