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Oroville Police | License plate readers

The Oroville City Council approved a two-year Flock Safety contract for 40 cameras in April 2023, according to the Enterprise-Record, and renewed it in 2025 at about $122,000 a year, according to KRCR, which also reported that 321 outside agencies in California have access.

At a glance

Cameras, per 2023 reporting
40 [1]
2023 contract, per reporting
$333,750, two years [1]
2025 renewal, per reporting
about $122,000 a year [2]
Retention, per reporting
30 days [2]
Outside agencies with access, per reporting
321, in California [2]
Published usage and privacy policy
we could not find one on the city website in the searches we ran on 2026-08-22

How it happened

  1. Decision

    Council approves a two-year Flock contract

    The Enterprise-Record reported the council approved a $333,750 two-year contract with Flock Safety for 40 cameras "equipped with microphones," to be placed on main traffic arteries including the Highway 99 entrances and exits. [1]

  2. Decision

    Renewal at about $122,000 a year

    KRCR reported that the agreement was renewed in 2025 at an annual cost of about $122,000. [2]

  3. Debate

    Community question-and-answer session

    KRCR reported that officials said 321 outside agencies in California have been granted access after requesting it and giving a reason, that retention is 30 days, and that the chief said he was "open to 14 days, 15 days." North State Public Radio reported that some residents wanted to know whether the cameras were mostly placed in minority and low-income areas; the department said placement follows calls for service and entrances and exits. [2] [3]

What was reported

The Enterprise-Record reported on April 18, 2023 that the Oroville City Council approved a two-year contract with Flock Safety for $333,750, covering installation of 40 cameras “with audio capabilities,” maintenance, cloud storage and software updates, to be placed on main traffic arteries including the Highway 99 entrances and exits. The article states that “The cameras’ microphones will also be able to triangulate the location of gunshots to an accuracy within 90 feet.”[1]

KRCR reported in August 2026 that the agreement was renewed in 2025 at about $122,000 a year, that retention is 30 days, and that 321 outside agencies in California have been granted access after requesting it and providing a reason. The chief said he was “open to 14 days, 15 days.”[2] North State Public Radio reported that some residents wanted to know whether the cameras were mostly placed in minority and low-income areas, and that the department said placement follows calls for service, vehicle thefts, and major entrances and exits.[3]

What we have not read

The council records behind the 2023 agreement and the 2025 renewal, the usage and privacy policy the state requires an operator to post, and the vendor’s transparency portal for Oroville were not in the records our tools could fetch. Each is the subject of a records request drafted in this county’s research file. Everything on this page rests on the named outlets’ reporting.

Questions

How many cameras does Oroville have?
The 2023 contract reported by the Enterprise-Record covered 40. Later figures in other sources differ, and the department's own count is not in any record we fetched. The county map shows community-reported points, which are not an agency inventory. [1]
Who can see the data?
KRCR reported that 321 outside agencies in California have been granted access after requesting it and providing a reason. [2]
How long is the data kept?
KRCR reported a 30-day retention period, and the chief saying he was open to 14 or 15 days. [2]

On the map

The community has mapped 104 devices of this type in the county on OpenStreetMap. These are community reports: the vendor and operator of each point are unverified, and none is confirmed to belong to this system. See them on the map →

Street names from reverse geocoding — © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

What we do not know

What you can do

Show up

Systems like this one are approved by boards, councils and committees that meet in public. We have not yet confirmed where each of them meets in Butte County.

What we have documented in Butte County →

Protect yourself

Practical steps to shrink your personal data trail. Our guides publish at launch; until then, EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense is the best starting point.

Surveillance Self-Defense →

Sources

  1. 1.
    Chico Enterprise-Record, "Oroville to install 40 license plate cameras" · News · · accessed · archived copy
  2. 2.
    KRCR, "Oroville police defend Flock cameras as residents raise privacy concerns" · News · · accessed · archived copy
  3. 3.
    North State Public Radio, "Oroville residents question police use of Flock cameras" · News · · accessed · archived copy

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