Los Altos council directs staff to seek one‑year Flock renewal with termination clause after heated public outcry

The Los Altos City Council instructed staff to negotiate with Flock Safety for a short, one‑year renewal that would align two existing contracts and include a termination‑for‑convenience clause after an extensive hearing on May 26.

Police Chief Saskia Logger told the council the department recommends a resolution authorizing the city manager to extend the contract for maintenance and service of 25 Flock automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras at an estimated cost of $160,000 over two years. Chief Logger said the ALPR program began as a 2024 pilot with 15 cameras and was expanded in July 2025 by 10 additional cameras.

“ALPR technology provides officers with timely, accurate information about vehicles associated with criminal activity,” Chief Logger said, adding that the City has put safeguards in place: data access limited to legitimate law enforcement use, no audio or facial recognition collected, 30‑day data retention, training and credentials for users, and internal and external audits. The chief also disclosed that a setting allowing broader “nationwide lookup” had been turned on from August 2024 until March 2025 and that Flock disabled the feature for California agencies in March 2025.

Public commenters overwhelmingly urged the council not to renew. Jan Pepper said she was worried about breaches and the downstream consequences for residents’ safety, while attorney Cara Silver told the council she was opposed to Flock because contract language and vendor behavior create risk for immigrants and other vulnerable people. “Flock cannot be trusted to secure the city’s data,” Silver said. Brian Jones argued Flock’s reported marketing and deployment conduct elsewhere crossed ethical lines.

Council members debated the tradeoffs. Council Member Daly, an early supporter of ALPRs who said the technology can make policing more equitable by reducing discretionary traffic stops, concluded the company’s conduct and the risk to civil liberties outweighed the tool’s benefits and said she would vote to cancel the contract. Vice Mayor Lang framed a middle path: preserve investigative capability while tightening contractual controls and creating an enforceable exit option to limit long‑term entrenchment.

The motion adopted by a 3‑1 vote directed staff to negotiate with Flock to (1) align renewal dates for the two existing contracts so they coincide and (2) add a termination‑for‑convenience clause (30 days’ notice was discussed as reasonable). The motion also authorized staff to give notice of non‑renewal if Flock will not agree to the requested terms. Council Member Daly cast the lone no vote.

The council’s action keeps the cameras and system available to police while seeking stronger contractual levers to protect the City should vendor behavior later create risks. Chief Logger and staff said the department will continue quarterly network audits and limit data sharing to designated local counties, and that the department relies on ALPRs for vehicle‑related investigations and search‑and‑rescue leads. Chief Logger noted the department reports a 41% reduction in residential burglaries from 2023 to 2025 but framed that number as local department data rather than an independent causal finding.

Next steps: staff will negotiate with Flock, seek to synchronize contract terms, and draft the termination language. If Flock declines the requested changes, the City will give notice of non‑renewal in time to meet the contract deadline, per the council direction.

Outcome: Council instructed staff to negotiate a one‑year alignment and termination‑for‑convenience clause; vote 3‑1 (Daly opposed).