Flock Safety Cameras — A Town That Said No First
active• losaltoshills
Los Altos Hills made national news in January 2026 as one of the first municipalities in California to sever ties with Flock Safety. The Town Council voted to end its contract with Flock Safety immediately and directed staff to begin taking down all 31 ALPR cameras around town, citing concerns about data privacy practices, cost effectiveness, and doubts about whether the cameras actually reduced crime. Mayor Rajiv Bhateja — who had originally championed the cameras to address a surge in burglaries — acknowledged the experiment hadn't worked as hoped: he noted that people committing burglaries use stolen cars and license plates, which undermines the technology's effectiveness, and said he remained worried that data would not be protected given the current political climate. The decision proved prescient: shortly after, Mountain View disclosed that hundreds of unauthorized law enforcement agencies had accessed its Flock license plate camera data for more than a year without consent — vindicating the town's caution.
Follow this issue
Follow this tracked issue to save updates about Flock Safety Cameras — A Town That Said No First in your CivicCause account. This follows the specific issue, not the broader cause generally.
Sign in to save this issue and set a future alert timing preference.
Related cause: Police accountability
Issue Timeline
No timeline events linked yet.
Linked meetings
No linked meetings yet.
Related news
No linked news articles yet.
Linked organizations
No linked organizations yet.
Where Groups Stand
No organization positions yet.