Who runs surveillance cameras in Kern County?
Also listed here because the record shows it
These systems are documented primarily as something else. They appear here because a cited record shows the deployment also does this.
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Forty CCTV cameras were installed at intersections as part of the same program, and the department's stated goal is to route cameras from a decommissioned city CCTV system into the Flock platform as feeds.
On the map
- 0
- Verified by us
- 67
- Community-reported
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including community reporting via the DeFlock project. Tiles by OpenFreeMap.
What we do not know
License plate readers and the real-time center [Bakersfield Police]
- How many plate reader cameras there are and where they are. The Vice Mayor asked in open session in June 2026.
- How long the data is kept. The retention logs were part of the same request.
- What the Real Time Information Center watches, who staffs it, when it runs, and what rules govern following something live.
- What the "Flock to vCAD API" integration passes between the camera platform and dispatch.
- How many of the forty new intersection cameras are available as feeds in the Flock system, and what can be done with those feeds.
- Whether the department has published the plate reader usage policy state law requires.
- Who the department shares plate data with. The county sheriff prohibits federal and out-of-state sharing in its own policy; whether the city has anything comparable is unknown.
What camera networks are
Fixed and steerable cameras run by a public agency, often networked so footage from many locations can be watched or searched from one place.
What you can do
Civic action
Show up
This technology is bought and renewed by boards, councils and committees that meet in public. We have confirmed where each of them meets in Kern County and how public comment works there.
How to show up in Kern County →Personal protection
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 ↗