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Placer County Sheriff | License plate readers

The Board's agenda for March 28, 2023 carried a two-year, $238,600 Flock Safety agreement, and the Sheriff's memo of that date states an intent to install forty-two cameras. The 2025-2026 civil grand jury reported that the office turned off Auburn Police Department's access to real-time alerts for approximately two years.

At a glance

Agreement on the 2023 agenda
Flock Group Inc., two years, $238,600 (item 24B, March 28, 2023) [1] [2]
Cameras in the 2023 request
Forty-two, stated as an intent to install [2]
Funding stated in 2023
$129,100 from the FY 2022-23 Sheriff Administration budget and $109,500 from the FY 2023-24 recommended budget, with "no impact to the General Fund" [2]
Retention
At least 30 months, and longer "if the Sheriff or his designee deems necessary" (Field Operations 5-37) [4]
Sharing stated in policy
Release "to other authorized law enforcement agencies and officials for law enforcement purposes"; the section we read sets no geographic limit [4]
Sharing described by the grand jury
The 2025-2026 civil grand jury reported sharing with all local police departments in the county and the California Highway Patrol, "among others," except Roseville Police Department [6]
Locations named in records
Three state route locations in the 2025 Caltrans memo and three more in the 2026 environmental notice [3] [5]
Cameras in service today
not in any record we fetched; the 2023 memo states an intent to install, not an inventory [2]
Vote on the 2023 item
the agenda lists item 24B under the Sheriff and does not record a vote; the minutes were not fetched on this pass [1]

How it happened

  1. Procurement

    Two-year Flock agreement on the Board agenda

    Under the agenda heading "24. SHERIFF", sub-item "B. Flock Group Inc. Agreement" is a request to "Approve a two-year agreement with Flock Group Inc. of Atlanta, GA for Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) camera annual subscription licenses, associated software, and professional services for the total amount of $238,600." The agenda does not record a vote. [1] [2]

  2. Decision

    Caltrans maintenance agreement for cameras on state routes

    A Sheriff's memo asks the Board to approve "a Law Enforcement Surveillance Devices Maintenance agreement with the California Department of Transportation for encroachment permits for the installation and maintenance of Automatic License Plate Recognition cameras on designated State Route locations". It names three locations and states "There is no fiscal impact associated with this agreement." [3]

  3. Debate

    Public comment on Flock cameras filed with the Board

    The Board's public comment packet for this meeting contains resident email about Flock cameras. [7]

  4. Coverage

    Grand jury reports on Auburn's real-time access

    The 2025-2026 civil grand jury reported that "for approximately two years, the Placer County Sheriff's Office turned off Auburn Police Department's access to the real-time notifications and alerts flagged by Placer County Sheriff's Office cameras," and that "During the grand jury's investigation, the access was restored." [6]

  5. Deployment

    Environmental notice for a Flock camera

    The notice states that "The project consists of the installation of a Flock Safety automated license plate reading (ALPR) camera to be installed on behalf of the Placer County Sheriff's Office," on "a 13' X SQRD REDITORQUE pole with a camera and solar panel." Three locations are listed. [5]

An automated license plate reader photographs passing vehicles and records the plate, the time and the place.

What the record establishes

The Board of Supervisors agenda for March 28, 2023 carries, under the heading “24. SHERIFF”, sub-item “B. Flock Group Inc. Agreement”, a request to “Approve a two-year agreement with Flock Group Inc. of Atlanta, GA for Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) camera annual subscription licenses, associated software, and professional services for the total amount of $238,600.”[1] The Sheriff’s memo of the same date states that “the Sheriff’s Office intends to install forty-two Flock Safety ALPR cameras with the ability to capture date, time, location, license plate, vehicle details, as well as objects. If the Placer County Sheriff’s Office chooses not to renew the subscription, Flock Group Inc. would remove the cameras.” On funding it states that $129,100 was available in the FY 2022-23 budget in Sheriff Administration, that the second year, $109,500, “will be included in the Sheriff’s Office FY 2023-24 Recommended Budget,” and that “There is no impact to the General Fund.” It describes Flock Group Inc. as “the sole manufacturer and distributor” of the camera, and names the police departments of Auburn, Grass Valley, Lincoln, Roseville, Rocklin, Truckee, Folsom, Elk Grove and Vacaville, and the Yuba County Sheriff’s Office, as agencies already using it.[2]

A memo dated October 14, 2025 recites that “In March 2023, the County of Placer entered into a Contractor Services Agreement with Flock Group, Inc.,” and that the agreement “included three ALPR cameras to be installed at State Route intersections within Placer County utilizing California Department of Transportation infrastructure to mount the cameras.” The three are “WB Newcastle Rd at Old State Hwy (Route 80), SB Grass Valley Hwy at Bell Rd (Route 49), and NB S Auburn St at I-80 S Off Ramp (Route 174)”. The memo asks the Board to approve a maintenance agreement with Caltrans for the encroachment permits, and states “There is no fiscal impact associated with this agreement.”[3] An environmental notice received by the State Clearinghouse on January 22, 2026 covers “the installation of a Flock Safety automated license plate reading (ALPR) camera to be installed on behalf of the Placer County Sheriff’s Office” on “a 13’ X SQRD REDITORQUE pole with a camera and solar panel,” and lists three locations: “#36 N Shore Rd@ Martis Dam Rd- SB”, “F#045 49 @ Nevada St - SB” and “F#053 N Shore Blvd @ N Lake Blvd NB”.[5]

What the policy says

Field Operations policy 5-37, effective August 1, 2023, cites California Civil Code 1798.90.5 through 1798.90.55. It states that “All ALPR data collected by PCSO systems will be stored digitally for a minimum of 30 months per Placer County Department Retention Schedules,” and that data “may be retained longer than 30 months if the Sheriff or his designee deems necessary.” On release it says only that “ALPR data and information may be released to other authorized law enforcement agencies and officials for law enforcement purposes.” The section we read sets no geographic limit on that release. On alerts it says “Hits provided by hot lists will only be viewed as reasonable suspicion and must be verified through CLETS,” the state law enforcement telecommunications system. Every search is logged: an operator must enter a name, a case or incident number, and a reason for the search.[4]

What the grand jury reported

The Placer County Civil Grand Jury, serving a one-year term from July 11, 2025 through June 30, 2026, gave pages 17 to 35 of its final report to the Sheriff’s Office and Auburn Police Department. Its summary states that “After concerns that Auburn Police Department was operating outside of its jurisdiction, for approximately two years, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office turned off Auburn Police Department’s access to the real-time notifications and alerts flagged by Placer County Sheriff’s Office cameras.” The report adds that “This denial of access has occurred to several agencies, though this grand jury has focused upon the denial of access to Auburn Police Department,” and that “During the grand jury’s investigation, the access was restored.” On the shape of the arrangement it states that “Except for Roseville Police Department, Placer County Sheriff’s Office shares its ALPR data, both investigative and real-time data, with all of the local police departments within Placer County as well as California Highway Patrol, among others.” Finding F1 is that the denial of access “has led to an adverse impact on Auburn Police Department’s ability to carry out its law enforcement objectives.” The report also faults Auburn: finding F5 is that F5. Auburn Police Department’s operation outside of the City of Auburn without advising Placer County Sheriff’s Office dispatch of its presence has resulted in the appearance of Auburn Police Department officers hiding their activities from Placer County Sheriff’s Office, and caused unnecessary management and control burdens on Placer County Sheriff’s Office. Recommendation R1 asks the two agencies to share real-time license plate reader data, automated vehicle locator data and LawNet by October 1, 2026, R2 asks for a joint task force by the same date, R3 for policies by February 1, 2027 and R4 for a memorandum of understanding by April 1, 2027. Responses are required from the Sheriff, the Auburn mayor and the Auburn police chief by August 31, 2026, and from the Auburn City Council by September 28, 2026.[6] Each of these is the grand jury’s finding, not ours.

What it does not establish

The agenda records item 24B and the memo records the Sheriff’s request. Neither records a vote, and the minutes for that meeting were not fetched on this pass, so no vote count appears here. The forty-two figure is an intent to install rather than an inventory, and no agency count of cameras in service reached us. What happened after the two-year term is not in any record we fetched: no renewal, amendment or successor agreement is in our corpus. The full list of agencies with access is not in the records we hold, and neither is any response to the grand jury. Residents wrote to the Board about Flock cameras in the public comment packet for December 9, 2025.[7]

Questions

Does the Placer County Sheriff's Office use license plate readers?
Yes. The Board's agenda for March 28, 2023 carried a two-year Flock Safety agreement for $238,600, and the Sheriff's memo of that date states an intent to install forty-two cameras. A 2025 memo covers three cameras on state routes, and a 2026 environmental notice lists three more locations. [1] [2] [3] [5]
How long does the office keep license plate reader data?
Policy 5-37 states that "All ALPR data collected by PCSO systems will be stored digitally for a minimum of 30 months per Placer County Department Retention Schedules," and that data "may be retained longer than 30 months if the Sheriff or his designee deems necessary." [4]
Who else can see the data?
Policy 5-37 says data "may be released to other authorized law enforcement agencies and officials for law enforcement purposes," and the section we read sets no geographic limit. The 2025-2026 civil grand jury reported that the office shares both investigative and real-time data with all local police departments in the county and with the California Highway Patrol, "among others," except Roseville Police Department. The full list of recipients is not in any record we fetched. [4] [6]
How many cameras are running now?
Not in any record we fetched. The 2023 memo states an intent to install forty-two. Six specific locations appear across the 2025 Caltrans memo and the 2026 environmental notice. [2] [3] [5]
Did the Board vote on the Flock agreement?
The agenda for March 28, 2023 lists the item under the Sheriff. It does not record a vote, and the minutes for that meeting were not fetched on this pass, so we do not state one. [1]

On the map

The community has mapped 248 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 Placer County.

What we have documented in Placer 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.
    Placer County Board of Supervisors, agenda for March 28, 2023, item 24B · Meeting record · · accessed · archived copy
  2. 2.
    Placer County Sheriff's Office memo to the Board of Supervisors, item 24B, Flock Group Inc. Agreement, March 28, 2023 · Meeting record · · accessed · archived copy
  3. 3.
    Placer County Board of Supervisors, item 22B memo, Law Enforcement Surveillance Devices Maintenance agreement with Caltrans, October 14, 2025 · Meeting record · · accessed · archived copy
  4. 4.
    Placer County Sheriff's Office, Field Operations Manual (2023), policy 5-37 Automated License Plate Recognition, effective 08/01/2023 · Primary document · · accessed · archived copy
  5. 5.
    California State Clearinghouse, SCH 2026010726, Flock Safety automated license plate reading camera, Placer County · Primary document · · accessed · archived copy
  6. 6.
    Placer County Civil Grand Jury, 2025-2026 Final Report, "Placer County Sheriff's Office and Auburn Police Department: An Opportunity for Improved Public Safety", pp. 17-35 · Primary document · accessed · archived copy
  7. 7.
    Placer County Board of Supervisors, public comment packet for December 9, 2025 · Meeting record · · accessed · archived copy

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