Costa Mesa could end license plate reader contract amid concerns of misuse, violations
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- An audit on CMPD’s use of automated license plate reader camera data, sought in April, has not been produced.
- Concerned about footage being shared with federal agencies, including ICE, residents and immigrant advocates urge: “Get the Flock Out of Costa Mesa.”
- The Council is scheduled to vote on July 21 whether to end or continue a contract with Flock Safety.
Costa Mesa residents, immigrant rights advocates and citizens concerned about mass surveillance and data sharing between local police and federal agencies, including ICE, this week beseeched the city to end its contract with automated license plate reader company Flock.
And their collective plea may yet bear fruit, as the Costa Mesa City Council is poised at its July 21 meeting to vote on whether to do just that.
Under the rallying cry “Get the Flock out of Costa Mesa,” dozens descended on City Hall Tuesday, calling for action amid continuing illegal immigration raids involving otherwise law-abiding citizens, most recently the detention and deportation Tuesday of a Costa Mesa man nabbed on his way to work, according to mutual aid group Lucha Costa Mesa.
Speakers described the confinement of Rafael Ruiz, a diabetic father of two reportedly taken to a facility in Santa Ana and summarily deported before immigration attorneys funded by the city could intervene on his behalf.
They questioned whether federal officials might be aided in such actions by Flock cameras, capable of capturing thousands of images in minutes, storing them for up to a full year and subject to potential sharing throughout a vast network of law enforcement agencies.
“Far from feeling safe, we’re feeling really worried and we’re feeling really watched — we don’t really know how they’re going to be using this data,” local resident and health advocate Juana Trejo told the council through a translator.
“The community right now is feeling really unsafe given all the activity that’s been going on with immigration [agents] and bounty hunters. Please listen to us and get this company out of the city of Costa Mesa.”
Such urging comes nearly two months after the council requested an in-depth audit of the police department’s use of the devices at an April 21 meeting.
Costa Mesa signed a contract with Flock Safety in June 2022 for 31 cameras, later adding another 15 units paid for by an organized retail theft grant. Two years later, a three-year lease was funded by an allocation of $306,000, plus $153,750 in grant funds.
In their first year of use, police reported the devices aided 107 felony arrests and the recovery of 80 stolen vehicles collectively valued at nearly $1.3 million.
Residents in April implored city leaders to reconsider the devices, after it was discovered a former Costa Mesa Police Department officer on leave in 2023 illegally accessed camera data to track his wife, an ex-girlfriend and a third person.
Officer Robert Jay Josett, 35, was ultimately fired from the department and sentenced to three years of informal probation for unauthorized computer access and fraud, making annoying or repeated phone calls and violating a restraining order.
In addition to the audit, council members asked city staff to research possible alternatives to Atlanta-based Flock Safety. That information has yet to be publicly shared.
Speakers Tuesday reiterated the need for investigation, citing CMPD’s refusal to provide Flock search logs in response to public records requests that other cities, such as Arcadia and Riverside, fulfilled.
The Bureau of Street Lighting has played a key role in the proliferation of automated license plate readers, a surveillance tool mounted on poles around the city.
In examining those records, citizens discovered Costa Mesa police sought Flock camera data from the two municipalities on behalf of Homeland Security and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), as well as unspecified out-of-state agencies.
Such actions could conflict with California’s Senate Bill 34, which restricts how automated license plate reader camera data is used and shared by local law enforcement agencies. In January, Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta sued the city of El Cajon for illegally sharing footage with more than 100 out-of-state agencies.
Commenter Allison Lin questioned the city’s liability, saying Costa Mesa could be violating SB 34 due to a lack of administrative safeguards in its contract with Flock, which has reportedly volunteered cities’ data to federal agencies.
“[The contract] allows Flock to share with law enforcement authorities, government officials and/or third parties — none of that is defined — or if Flock has a good faith belief,” she said. “So we’re going to rely on Flock’s good faith belief when it … has a track record of repeatedly engaging in the unauthorized sharing of data by deceiving cities and the public?”
Councilmembers Andrea Marr and Arlis Reynolds, backed by Mayor John Stephens and Mayor Pro Tem Manual Chavez, renewed their requests for information on how Costa Mesa police are using and requesting Flock data.
City Manager Cecilia Gallardo-Daly said CMPD Chief Joyce LaPointe would provide such a report, along with information on possible alternatives, at the council’s next meeting on July 21. The council is anticipated to vote on whether or not to terminate the city’s contract with Flock.
Councilmember Mike Buley said he was open to discussion, but acknowledged there’s another side to the debate.
“If you want me to join the ‘Get the Flock Out’ campaign you’re going to have to state a credible argument that the substantial risks we’ve heard outweigh the benefits,” he said.
“When crimes happen in Costa Mesa, and probable cause is established, that data can be accessed, and it does help law enforcement deter future crime, apprehend and convict current criminals, and it makes our community safer.”
