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Writer's pictureSean Everhart

State of the cities automatic licenses cameras




Hi all,


I’m looking forward to seeing all of you at the Halloween party on Revere. I listened in to the City Council meeting regarding the new license plate data reader contract. The city council unanimously approved the contract with Flock Safety.

Contract specifics:


  • $2.8M for 3 years

  • $1.7M in year one (includes 300 cameras, and the management of those cameras)

  • OPD worked with the Privacy Advisory Council to create an “agreed use policy”

  • 30 day data retention policy

  • Annual reporting requirements (Crimes solved, who is using it)


A number of cities in the Bay Area currently use Flock Safety:


  • Piedmont

  • So I got it for you tonight so we're home there is there's a group call Stacey yeah yeah Cameron so we have no now so we have our own cameras there Cisco Meraki which have the capability of putting into blocked everybody guys but from what I heard his step one is get wet get the cameras that they're signing a contract for up and running stuff to use to integrate with the other one fourths of agencies and then step three is discussions later on brother but yeah so we have a system Rocky cameras I believe we've got three I'm not mistaken or four Tables house yeah we've got one right five Marlow I'm not sure what's going on there oh it's it's up to go to sets were the one to remember we got 36 Marlow yes it's six Marlow it's right when you come it's right by the turn to get to Meghan Barlett was going to become part of it did it I'd have to ask dad they want it yeah and they've got a good construction of how to set it up but they don't have quite the eyesight David was looking for it so I wasn't sure I haven't heard from david on our neighbor who works for the yes they work for Cisco so you have three locations yes I believe we are free so we've used them we had new members of the shot a car that we had that we sent that so that was used in the police report violence so we were able to we were able to David Pulliman sent me the sent me the link I uploaded the image Alameda

  • Palo Alto

  • Berkeley

  • San Leandro


The camera locations will be determined on a few different pieces of information:

  • Oakland crime analyst will use a (Crime heat map-density of crime locations) to determine locations with high crime

  • Flock safety assisting in determining intersections to install cameras (Based on traffic patterns)


Safety use policy for officers

  • Officers have to articulate why they need to search Flock Safety database (police report numbers)

  • Can determine what the car is, even if it does not have a license plate


Next steps

  • Timeline on implementation is suppose to be Q1

  • Goal is to integrate Flock Safety with additional agencies


Response from Councilmembers:


Councilmember Kalb

  • Fixated on the fact he only wanted to capture the rear license plate

  • Went on a tangent about facial recognition (the cameras are not setup to do this)

  • What will the data be kept for (Everyone's license plate will be tracked for 30 days)


Councilmember Jenkins

  • Support the cameras with no reservations

  • Flock is going to be managing the system, OPD is short staffed so he thinks this is a good thing


Councilmember Gallo

  • Supports cameras

  • Gallo mentioned the fact that the City hasn't had any camera contract since the spring


Councilmember Reid

  • Supports cameras

  • She went more in depth with the sharing of data plan with other agencies

  • Joint intergovernmental agency with the county sups

  • CHP freeway cameras will also integrate with Flock (There was no timeline on this)

Councilmember Bas

  • Josh Thomas (Flock) spoke during her time

  • Benicia (12% reduction in crime)

  • South SF (50% reduction in stolen vehicles)

  • Concerned about privacy (Even though Josh answered her questions in his statements)

  • Wants solve rates numbers

  • Wants reporting immediately


Councilmember Ramachandran

  • Staff capacity at OPD to manage

  • Wants to understand how hard it is to train on the cameras

  • Wants to get hardware integrated with dispatch


Councilmember Fife

  • If there are inaccurate readings how would that be addressed?

  • Fife said 10/20% inaccurate hits (This is false)

  • Transparency portal on day one

  • Is the data going to be put together to show what OPD wants the public to see

  • Wants to build metrics that are “making us safer”

  • Flock mentioned Vallejo PD (Fife didnt like that based on Vallejo in the news)


Public speaking section


Jim Dontell (on the Lakeshore HOA board)

  • Lakeshore HOA uses Flock cameras

  • 350 hours of research

  • It is current technology

  • Easy to install and administer

He was CUT OFF


Woman who goes to every meeting

Brought up the fact that OPD and Oakland haven’t had working cameras since the ransomware attacks


North Hills Carrolyn

Would officers get alerted?

Would it tie into out of state plates?


My thoughts based on what I have researched and observed


While we may not have reached the level of progress we desire, it's evident that our council members are starting to grasp the concerns that our community is facing. People are experiencing frustration, fear, and a growing dissatisfaction with the state of our government. The installation of security cameras, while not a panacea, represents a step in the right direction. It's essential for us to maintain our vigilance as a community.


South San Francisco has witnessed a remarkable 50% reduction in car thefts, and this achievement is largely credited to enhanced police work, with camera technology serving as a valuable tool in their crime-fighting arsenal. Achieving similar results will take some time, but the unanimous council vote in favor of installing the cameras indicates that they understand our community's frustrations.

I will continue to provide updates on our community's progress in this endeavor.


Sean Everhart

150 Covington





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