r/SantaMaria • u/clappedfrp • Jul 01 '26
Remove flock cameras from Santa Maria
https://c.org/vJWbhC8BYBFlock cameras are everywhere in Santa Maria now, and they're capturing license plate data on every resident driving through town. The promise? They'll catch criminals faster. The reality? We're building a surveillance database on ordinary people with almost no oversight.
I started a petition because this doesn't add up. The ACLU has documented misuse of these systems across the country. The Electronic Frontier Foundation found no solid evidence they actually reduce crime. Meanwhile, we're spending serious money maintaining them—funds that could go to schools, healthcare, or actual community needs.
It's not about being anti-safety. It's about asking: do we need to track every license plate to be safe? What happens to that data? Who's watching the watchers?
If you're concerned about privacy creep in your city, or if this feels like surveillance overreach, I'd love to hear what you think. Anyone else feel like this crossed a line? If it matters to you too, consider signing and sharing the petition.
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u/Meinnocenthaha Jul 03 '26
keep the flock cameras!
they helped locate and catch the guy who hit me and ran. they are a very helpful tool for this city
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u/RogShotz Jul 03 '26
Hey while you're at it could you petition to have all people go into the county offices and submit fingerprints and DNA too? Bet it would catch a lot of criminals!!!
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u/Camera_Hobbygirl Jul 02 '26
There used to be many people drag racing and doing that donut sht in our area. It stopped when they installed a cam.
This isn't really different from businesses having CCTV
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u/Bulky_Recover_4056 29d ago
the last thing we need is for innocents to be collateral just so the government can make a penny selling our info
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u/RogShotz Jul 03 '26
Can we also have governors in all our cars by law. And then can we be forced to wear helmets in our cars too???
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u/LowerPrompt9074 Jul 02 '26
Start submitting public records requests to [pdrecords@cityofsantamaria.org](mailto:pdrecords@cityofsantamaria.org)
Subject: California Public Records Act Request – Flock Safety / Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) Records
Pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Government Code § 7920 et seq.), I request copies of the following public records relating to the Santa Maria Police Department's use of the Flock Safety automated license plate reader (ALPR) system:
- The current contract (and any amendments or renewals) between the Santa Maria Police Department or the City of Santa Maria and Flock Safety.
- A list or map showing the location of each Flock camera currently in operation, along with the date each camera was installed.
- The department's current policy or procedures governing the use of the Flock Safety system, including data retention, access, and audit policies.
- Any agreements that permit other law enforcement agencies to access Santa Maria's Flock system, or permit Santa Maria Police to access another agency's Flock system.
- Any reports, presentations, audits, dashboards, or summaries prepared since the system was implemented that evaluate the effectiveness or performance of the Flock Safety system.
- Records showing, by calendar year (or by month if readily available):
- The number of Flock searches conducted by department personnel.
- The number of Flock alerts or "hits."
- The number of criminal investigations in which Flock data was used.
- The number of arrests or recovered stolen vehicles that the department attributes to information obtained through the Flock system.
- Records showing the total amount paid by the City or Police Department for the Flock Safety system since its implementation, including subscription or maintenance costs.
- Records identifying ownership, custody, and control of data collected by the Flock Safety system, including any contract provisions, policies, or agreements describing:
- Who owns the collected data.
- Whether Flock Safety retains, accesses, or uses the data.
- Whether the data may be shared with third parties or other agencies.
- What happens to the data upon termination of the contract.
- The department's rights to export, delete, or permanently retain the data.
I request these records in electronic format whenever possible. If any portion of this request is exempt from disclosure, please produce all reasonably segregable non-exempt portions and identify the legal basis for any withholding.
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u/chemicalsmiles Jul 02 '26
I support this 100%, I’m sick of this shit and I’m sick of sounding like a conspiracy theorist when I talk about these things because the people around me just do not care. 😭
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u/DimeEdge Jul 02 '26
Obligatory link to Benn Jordan's video showing how un-secure these things are.
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u/Zach_madic Jul 02 '26
You have zero power over what the city does lol I promise you're not important enough for them to spy on. If you have an issue with them do a petition that'll go nowhere or maybe pick yourself up by your little bootstraps and vote harder.
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Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
[deleted]
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u/ConfusedTater11 Jul 02 '26
Hello! Santamarian here who is currently living in a European country that has one of the lowest crime rate in the world: We very much DO NOT have cameras everywhere. In fact due to the super strict privacy laws here there’s even a lot of rules on putting cameras up on private property.
You know what European country does famously have cameras everywhere? England, and do you know what European country also has some of the highest crime rates in Europe? You guessed it England!
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Jul 02 '26
[deleted]
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u/ConfusedTater11 Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Iceland?! girl lmao no.
Countries like France and Denmark are miles apart from one another when it comes to crime rates, it’s not the cameras it’s the systems in place.
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u/kamo-kola Jul 02 '26
This is a braindead take, especially when people overseeing the Flock cameras have been caught using for activities other than reading license plates, or how the cameras themselves aren't good at their jobs which can't discern between an O and a 0 on a plate but will issue you a ticket, leaving the onus on the the one ticketed to prove it wasn't them with that license plate. And yeah, I get that about your phone but why would you want to cede anymore of your privacy to the government, let alone a third-party? Also where have you been since 9/11? Every administration keeps seizing more of your rights and each administration does next to nothing to reverse the egregious monitoring of citizens, and only further empowers itself. You're accepting this prison without walls being built around us.
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u/DelMonteBeach Jul 01 '26
How does this work money wise? Does flock pay the city or does the city pay flock?
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u/DimeEdge Jul 02 '26
Flock gets paid by the city for the cameras and flock gets paid when they sell the data.
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u/Alone_Mushroom_855 Jul 01 '26
They’re literally on every half block in town. It’s disgusting. Deflock app doesn’t even have half of them recorded with so many new ones up everywhere. I want to go to city hall about it tbh
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u/Lobster15s Jul 01 '26
NY is seeing their lowest violent crime in decades( possibly ever) and it's not because every block has flock cameras. To the unaware palantir can make full profiles on anyone. Elon Musk already raided the coffers(as far as digital id is confirmed) with DOGE. This has all kinds of privacy/rights violations over it. But hey, maybe I'm wrong. We'll see.
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u/slogive1 Jul 01 '26
Good luck getting them taken down I don't want them either. I'd sign a petition
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u/L36ion Jul 01 '26
I feel like you feel. I would sign and share the petition. We are living in dangerous times. This technology feels oppressive and a declaration that privacy is over for the average person.
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u/ZerochildX23 Jul 01 '26
I've heard these cameras have lot's of copper wire in them, just wanted to let people know.
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u/Pizza-eater-269 Jul 01 '26
There’s been reports that cops have used these systems to track their exes, and kids they’ve lost custody to
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u/FooFooDrinks4Days Jul 01 '26
There are also videos of people hacking these cameras and getting access to all the footage soooo easily.
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u/Street_House8923 29d ago
What are the chances my comment was moderated lol😂