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License-plate readers · Ventura County

Ventura County

Using license-plate readers · 5 agencies documented

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Ventura County Sheriff's Office

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety, Axon
Cameras
146
Flock ALPR cameras listed on the sheriff's Flock transparency portal, per Ojai Valley News (contract covers 100). Axon ALPR is in 127 vehicles.
Contract
Flock Safety: · from June 1, 2024 · to May 31, 2027 · 100 Falcon cameras, per Ojai Valley News. (Ojai Valley News, date not shown)
  1. Feb. 2026 The sheriff's office found that a February-March 2025 error had re-enabled Flock's national lookup; out-of-state entities ran more than 364,000 queries. Sheriff Jim Fryhoff said the office will explore other vendors; Commander Eric Tennessen said it is not renegotiating with Flock. (Ojai Valley News, date not shown; CBS Los Angeles, July 14, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Ojai Valley News article has no visible date; it references July 2026 events.
  • Camera count conflict: contract 100 vs. portal 146.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Ventura Police Department

Status
Program documented, current use unconfirmed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
23
Flock cameras listed per Ojai Valley News (undated, 2026).
Conflicts and open questions
  • Ventura is just over 100,000; Oxnard (largest city) not checked.

Secondhand report; not yet confirmed with the agency.

Oxnard Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety, Motorola Solutions
Cameras
Count not documented
No count found; the city page links to a Flock transparency portal (oxnard-ca-pd-) that could not be read.
Data sharing
Per its 2024–2025 data sharing review, the department shares Flock ALPR data only with California agencies listed on its Flock transparency portal, and found no out-of-state or federal agencies with access.
  1. Feb. 2020 In survey answers published by the State Auditor, the department said it operated ALPR cameras and accessed data through Vigilant Solutions. (California State Auditor, Feb. 13, 2020)
  2. Feb. 2023 Department stopped collecting and storing ALPR data in Motorola’s Vigilant platform (used from October 2017), per its data sharing review. It keeps Vigilant as an investigative search tool only. (Oxnard Police Department, Dec. 10, 2025)
  3. Dec. 10, 2025 Department posted an ALPR data sharing review for Jan. 1, 2024 to June 15, 2025. It says Flock Safety is its current ALPR platform and that no prohibited agencies had access. (Oxnard Police Department, Dec. 10, 2025; City of Oxnard, date not shown)
Conflicts and open questions
  • No contract amounts found.

From agency records.

Thousand Oaks Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
  1. July 17, 2026 The Acorn named Thousand Oaks as a Flock customer. It said area cities will keep using the cameras under their sheriff’s department contracts. (The Acorn, July 17, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • The city contracts with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office for policing; the Acorn does not say whether the Flock contract is held by the city or the sheriff. Not sourced beyond the Acorn.
  • Not in the State Auditor’s 2019 survey list under a city police department name.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

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.