A Flock security camera on the corner of Green Valley Road in Watsonville. These license plate camera readers have come under scrutiny as fears escalate around alleged sharing of collected data with federal immigration agents. (Amaya Edwards —Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)

SANTA CRUZ >> Following months of heightened scrutiny of license plate camera company Flock Safety, three members of the Santa Cruz City Council have proposed ending the city’s contract with the company. 

The move follows reports that license plate camera data in Santa Cruz and Capitola had been searched by out-of-state agencies on behalf of federal law enforcement, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Police chiefs in both cities have admitted that the unintentional data sharing violated state law. 

The contract cancellation would be a major victory for advocates that have said the Flock cameras are a risk to immigrant communities. It would also remove Santa Cruz Police’s access to a tool that they say has helped solve major crimes.

The city council is set to vote on whether to end the contract at its Jan. 13 meeting.

The proposal, authored by council members Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson, Susie O’Hara and Renee Golder, would terminate the contract with Flock on Feb. 12. At least one other city council member or the mayor would have to vote alongside them. 

When the city council first approved automated license plate cameras in 2023, Mayor Fred Keeley voted against it. Keeley could not be immediately reached for comment.

The proposal wouldn’t prevent the city from contracting with another automated license plate reader company if they have stronger transparency, limitations on sharing, and privacy protections, according to the proposal. 

As the federal administration ramps up deportations, the contract with Flock “is just way too risky in terms of overall sense of safety for our community, and particularly our immigrant community,” O’Hara said. 

Several other local governments across the country, including Eugene Ore. and Flagstaff, Ariz. have recently ended their contracts with Flock.

She said she was particularly perturbed by a 2024 pilot program that allowed federal agencies to search Flock’s network of thousands of cameras across the country. The program has since been shuttered. After a call with Flock CEO Garrett Langley, she was “not really satisfied with his response about the goal and objective of that pilot,” she said.

“I’m just very concerned about this particular vendor, and I’m very concerned about the potential of Santa Cruz data being shared without our knowledge,” O’Hara said. She, Golder and Kalantari-Johnson are “aware that this decision is going to be impactful, and it’s going to very likely slow down investigations,” she said. “It was not an easy decision” to propose ending the contract, she added.

People hold signs rallying against the use of Flock security cameras during public comment at a Santa Cruz City Council meeting on Nov. 18, 2025. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)

Although Golder has been a steadfast supporter of law enforcement, she said she reluctantly decided to sign on to the proposal to end the contract. 

“I really struggle with the fact that we’re kind of taking something away that they’ve been using as a tool,” she added. “But the perceived fear and distrust with the national administration is so strong, that this feels like something that we could do to help some people in the community feel safe.” 

O’Hara said she was alerted to problems with Flock Security in large part by local organizers, including the anti-Flock group Get the Flock Out. But organizers with the group said the council members’ proposal doesn’t go far enough to prevent future license plate camera contracts.

“We are so excited that the city council has really opened their eyes to the problem with Flock,” said Get the Flock Out activist Ami Chen Mills.

But she and other organizers said they are concerned that the council appears open to considering similar technology from other companies “without taking the time to have a conversation with the community about what we want in terms of surveillance, in terms of crime prevention, in terms of contracting with anyone who sets up a system that is tracking people without warrants.”

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