Residents press commission on privacy, opt-out and oversight for Flock cameras

A string of La Cañada Flintridge residents used the commission's public-comment period to press for stronger oversight and public reporting about the city's Flock ALPR program.

Stacy Boland warned that "we're creating a dataset," urged the city to track how AI auditing tools access data and requested routine public reporting on requests, access and breaches. Residents also said the city previously advertised an opt-out for license-plate capture that is no longer visible on the website; David Haxton said he and his wife had used the opt-out when it was posted and later could not find it.

City staff and Captain Vienna responded that the city selected a 30-day retention policy for Flock images (except for evidence holds), that administrative access is limited to sworn LASD users at the station, and that any change in scope or a pilot involving a watch center or drones would follow public workshops and council decisions. "We don't share data out of state," Vienna told the audience, and staff reiterated breach-reporting protocols and the requirement that LASD queries be tied to incident numbers.

Residents asked for a clearer public report of how many queries and hits are connected to arrests or case clearances; staff said some Flock-related incidents are reported in monthly crime reports available on the city's website but acknowledged residents' requests for ongoing transparency.