The Alameda County Board of Supervisors approved a one-year $2.4 million contract extension for Flock Safety surveillance technologies with the Sheriff’s Office in a 3-2 vote Tuesday, despite opponents’ warnings of contract loopholes that could put the region’s immigrant community at risk.
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Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez defended the value of surveillance technologies for law enforcement in the county’s rural communities, arguing the new contract with Flock Safety addressed several privacy concerns – even as the contract limits liability and penalties for data breaches.
“There’s just a lot here that warrants a lot more discussion for something of this magnitude under a Trump administration that is clearly not serving the best interest of our communities,” said Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas, who voted against the contract.
The contract extends the use of Flock Safety’s automatic license plate readers, AeroDome drones, operating system, and data network at the Sheriff’s Office through June 30, 2027. The county has had a rolling contract with Flock Safety since July 2023 as the surveillance technology has been rapidly adopted by cities across the country.
According to Sanchez, these technologies multiply the Sheriff Office’s law enforcement capability in the county’s unincorporated areas, allowing deputies to respond to incidents more quickly. In one incident on June 8, Flock automatic license plate readers tracked five stolen county vehicles and helped deputies locate them within 12 hours, the Sheriff’s Office said.
“It’s critical for public safety operations. It’s critical for unincorporated areas that rely on Alameda County Sheriff’s Office to provide law enforcement services to them,” Sanchez said. “We are still short staffed.”
Flock Safety has become a lightning rod for scrutiny by privacy advocates like the Electronic Freedom Foundation and Secure Justice. In February, the city of Mountain View canceled its Flock Safety contract after a police audit revealed the company had allowed unauthorized access to the city’s camera data by federal law enforcement agencies.
As recently as June, Alameda County camera data has been accessed by out-of-state entities, a violation of Senate Bill 34, a state law restricting California law enforcement agencies from sharing data with out-of-state and federal agencies. Sanchez said the deputies who provided that access have been removed from control of Flock Safety data.
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“The fact it was only last week that the sheriff found the violation is a damning indictment,” said Tim MacKenzie, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America in the Bay Area. “It’s also no solace that there are more frequent audits. Even with the audit, we cannot be certain that our data is not being used for immigration enforcement.”
The contract with the county stipulates that Flock Safety is liable for such breaches of personal identifiable information, but sets a maximum cap of liability as the total amount of money the county has paid within the last 12 months.
During negotiations, Flock Safety refused to agree to a “liquidated damages” provision, which would specify an exact monetary penalty for privacy violations. Instead, the county demanded Flock Safety take out insurance policies in the event of data breaches.
With the Flock Safety contract in place, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office is putting together a competitive bidding process to find a new law enforcement surveillance company, but that may take 12 to 18 months to complete, according to Sanchez. In the meantime, the county will continue to operate with Flock Safety.
While supervisors expressed apprehension at renewing an imperfect contract, Board President David Haubert and Supervisor Nate Miley said Flock Safety’s benefits to public safety, especially in the large unincorporated areas, was too important to abandon without a replacement.
“If we don’t have this in the unincorporated area, it’s going to be left without these cameras. And for me, that will impact public safety and I can’t support anything that will affect public safety,” Miley said. “I would not be doing my job if I left folks without this technology.”
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