Skip to content
ORWELL INDEX
Active Updated

Truckee Police | License plate readers

Truckee Police says it uses Flock Safety license plate readers, with data purged by the vendor after 30 days. Its policy bars sharing for federal immigration enforcement and names Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol.

At a glance

Vendor, per the department
Flock Safety [1]
Published policy
Policy 470 (manual stamp 2026-04-22) [2]
Prior suspicion required
No [2]
Retention
30 days at the vendor, per Policy 470.6 [2]
Federal immigration enforcement
Sharing not permitted; ICE and CBP named in Policy 470.9 [2]
Camera count and contract
not in any record we fetched [2]

How it happened

  1. Context

    Policy 470 in the published manual

    "The Truckee Police Department does not permit the sharing of ALPR data gathered by the Town or its contractors/subcontractors for purpose of federal immigration enforcement, these federal immigration agencies include Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CPB)." [2]

What the department says

The department’s transparency page states: “The Truckee Police Department uses Flock Safety technology to capture objective evidence without compromising on individual privacy,” and that it “utilizes retroactive searches to solve crimes after they’ve occurred and also utilizes real-time alerting of hotlist vehicles.”[1]

What the policy says

Policy 470.5 says “reasonable suspicion or probable cause is not required before using an ALPR.” Policy 470.6 says the vendor “will store the data (data hosting)” and that “Flock Safety will purge their data at the end of the 30 days of storage,” while data booked as evidence is kept.[2] Policy 470.9 limits release to other law enforcement or prosecutorial agencies on a written request approved by the chief, who “will consider the California Values Act,” and states that the department “does not permit the sharing of ALPR data gathered by the Town or its contractors/subcontractors for purpose of federal immigration enforcement, these federal immigration agencies include Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CPB).”[2] The camera count and the contract are not in the records we fetched.

Questions

Does Truckee Police share reader data with immigration agencies?
Policy 470.9 says the department does not permit sharing for federal immigration enforcement and names ICE and Customs and Border Patrol. [2]
Who else can receive the data?
Policy 470.9 allows sharing with other law enforcement or prosecutorial agencies on a written request approved by the chief, who "will consider the California Values Act" before approving. [2]
How long is the data kept?
Policy 470.6 says "Flock Safety will purge their data at the end of the 30 days of storage," while data booked as evidence is kept. The camera count and contract are not in the records we fetched. [2]

On the map

The community has mapped 94 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 Nevada County.

What we have documented in Nevada 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.
    Truckee Police Department, Transparency · Primary document · accessed · archived copy
  2. 2.
    Truckee Police Department Policy Manual (Lexipol, 2026-04-22), Policy 470, Automated License Plate Readers · Primary document · · accessed · archived copy

Get the digest

A regular digest of what changed in the world of surveillance: the counties we published, the devices that appeared on the map, and the public meetings where these decisions get made. We send it when there is enough to report.

Subscribe to the newsletter

One click to unsubscribe. What we do with your address is on the newsletter page.