The Santa Barbara City Council voted 5-2 to delay the replacement of Flock automated cameras, instead choosing to go without an alternative system until the city has a chance to publicly review its existing policy to address community concerns about surveillance technology.
This would leave the city police department without the use of any license plate reading cameras in the interim period, which could take up to a year or more, according to city staff.
The recent vote was a continuation of a discussion on surveillance technology from August 25, when the city was considering moving to a new purveyor, Verkada, after City Council asked to end the previous contract with Flock Safety, a company that has been under fire for accusations of allowing collected data to be accessed and used for federal immigration enforcement.
While there has been no documented evidence of misuse by local law enforcement, community members have nearly unanimously voiced their opposition to the continued use of automated license plate readers. During the hearings last month and on Tuesday, dozens of residents raised similar concerns over privacy and potential misuse by outside agencies, while no members of the public voiced support for automated cameras.
Community members reiterated previous arguments against automated cameras, pointing out inconsistencies in the city’s existing policy that could potentially leave openings for collected data to be shared, and asking that City Council slow down to allow for a proper review before setting up a new batch of cameras.
“Please do not rush into another [Automated License Plate Reader] contract,” said community organizer Ana Arce. “Put policy first, conduct a comprehensive review, involve the community, and establish strong safeguards so we do not have to keep coming back to council when breach of securities happen.”
Councilmember Wendy Santamaria supported the plan to delay signing any new contracts until after a public review period was conducted. This review would allow the city to clear up inconsistencies in the language and give the public time to weigh in on the decision. Santamaria said public opinion is heavily in favor of getting rid of the surveillance cameras, even if it means police have to rely on traditional methods to locate suspects for the moment.
“This is wildly unpopular,” she said. “And we have a police force that has been solving crime successfully for decades, so I don’t necessarily think that this is going to preclude our police department from doing the job that they do.”
Councilmember Eric Friedman, who had previously voiced support for automated cameras as an effective tool for local law enforcement, showed flexibility by voting alongside Councilmembers Santamaria, Meagan Harmon, Kristen Sneddon, and Oscar Gutierrez, supporting the plan to review the city and department policies.
Mayor Randy Rowse and Councilmember Mike Jordan voted in opposition, with Jordan saying he was worried that the city’s automated camera policy program was being conflated with national issues and AI concerns, and Rowse saying he had hoped the city would implement a new system more quickly.
Council directed staff to open a public comment period and return to council with a timeline to review comments and both the city and police departments automated camera policies.
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