Residents press Camarillo council on ICE activity and Flock Safety cameras

During general public comment Jan. 28, several Camarillo residents urged the City Council to take stronger action on immigration enforcement and to reconsider the city’s use of automated camera systems.

Joseph Dubinsky told the council that "it's now over 700 people have been taken from Ventura County and over 440 of those were taken in Camarillo," and asked the council to establish an immigration stakeholders committee similar to neighboring cities. He criticized what he described as a lack of law-enforcement investigation into complaints involving ICE.

Clea Talley asked the council to "vote to terminate the contract with Flock and cover any cameras currently deployed within the city until they can be removed," contending the cameras are "located next to our public schools" with playgrounds visible, that several cameras have publicly accessible live feeds, and that the systems pose privacy and safety risks. She said recent terms and conditions from Flock Safety state the company claims data ownership "in perpetuity." Spencer Ritchie echoed calls to remove or cover the cameras and questioned why Camarillo has 25 cameras while a larger neighboring city has fewer.

Speakers including Nicole Raden described fear in the community related to immigration enforcement. Raden said she had trouble assuring friends and family that Camarillo was safe, stating: "I'm a bit scared to come home. Scared to come home, home here to Camarillo." Commenters urged the council to update the city's immigration resources webpage and to convene an immigration stakeholders meeting.

Council members acknowledged the comments and several said they were working on public-safety strategies and community outreach. No formal council action to change surveillance contracts or to create the proposed stakeholders committee was taken at the meeting; those requests were delivered as public comment for possible future consideration.

The record: the clerk read public-comment rules at the start of the period and listed nine sign-ups; multiple speakers used the allotted three minutes each.