A Flock Safety camera, an automatic license plate reader system, operates in Ukiah March 18, 2025.
After hours of back-and-forth debate and public comment Tuesday night, the East Palo Alto City Council decided to uphold its current contract for Flock Safety cameras.
At a meeting two weeks ago, the council was expected to hold a discussion on reconsidering its contract with Flock. The automated license plate reader cameras are used for public safety but have raised privacy concerns around the country since there have been reports of federal authorities having access to the cameras’ data.
A rise in federal immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump has sparked growing resistance to Flock cameras over concerns that federal authorities can access camera data to conduct surveillance of civilians.
Regionally, cities including Mountain View, Santa Cruz and Los Altos Hills have recently terminated their contracts with Flock Safety after learning that federal agencies could search the camera data.
However, three councilmembers in East Palo Alto voted to shelve the item at the previous meeting, a move that sparked outrage among the several dozen members of the public who showed up to speak on the item.
But at Tuesday’s meeting, the council kept the item on the agenda recommending that the city amend its three-year contract with Flock to a one-year contract after learning that the city would have to pay the three-year contract in full even if it wanted to cancel early.
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Dirk van Ulden said:
Unfortunately - he is the only one running. Chelsey is not qualified as she is not credentialed.
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