Flock Safety License Plate Readers — Privacy, Immigration & Public Safety

active• losaltos

Los Altos has actively embraced Flock Safety automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras as a public safety tool, with the city maintaining a robust network used by the Los Altos Police Department. City officials have highlighted that crimes in 2026 are solved through digital evidence first — license plate readers, surveillance video, phone records — and that shared Flock camera networks across Santa Clara County allow police to identify criminal crews rather than isolated suspects. But the technology has become politically charged across the region. Santa Clara County supervisors signaled growing distrust of Flock Safety after reports emerged of federal immigration authorities accessing local ALPR data — and neighboring Los Altos Hills became one of the first municipalities in California to sever ties with Flock entirely, taking all 31 of its cameras offline in January 2026. Los Altos has not followed suit — and that decision is now drawing scrutiny.

Related cause: Police accountability

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