Who runs license plate readers in San Joaquin County?
- Active License plate readers
- Agency
- San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office
- Vendor
- —
- Devices
- —
- Active License plate readers
- Agency
- Tracy Police Department
- Vendor
- Flock Safety
- Devices
- —
- Expanding License plate readers
- Agency
- Stockton Police Department
- Vendor
- Flock Safety
- Devices
- —
| System | Agency | Vendor | Status | Devices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| License plate readers | San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office | — | Active | — |
| License plate readers | Tracy Police Department | Flock Safety | Active | — |
| License plate readers | Stockton Police Department | Flock Safety | Expanding | — |
On the map
- 0
- Verified by us
- 325
- Community-reported
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including community reporting via the DeFlock project. Tiles by OpenFreeMap.
What we do not know
San Joaquin County Sheriff
- Which retention period governs today, the 365 days in the 2026 policy or the 30 days recorded in the April 2024 dataset row.
- How many readers the office operates now and where they are, given that the only counts we hold are a 2024 dataset row and a 2023 funding request.
- What the regular audits the policy promises have found, and how often they run.
- What a deputy must establish before running a query, which the one-page policy does not address.
Tracy Police
- The department's automated license plate reader policy and its public safety video surveillance system policy, which its own application names.
- How many readers are running now, where they are mounted, and how long reads are kept.
- Which agencies can search Tracy's reader data, and how many searches are run. We ask for counts, never footage.
- Whether the grant application was funded, and whether a real time crime center was built.
Stockton Police
- The Flock Safety contract itself and all three amendments, as city records rather than as reporting about them.
- The November 2024 council resolution accepting $963,000 in federal funds, and what the money bought.
- The policy governing the drone response system, including what the drones may record and how long it is kept.
- The number of drone flights and license plate reader searches, by count and category. We ask for counts, never footage.
- The city's own current inventory of readers and where they are mounted.
What license plate readers are
An automated license plate reader photographs every passing vehicle and records the plate, the time and the place. It does not watch suspects. It logs everyone, and the record is usually kept on a vendor’s servers.
How they work, why agencies buy them, and every county we have documented →
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 not yet confirmed where each of them meets in San Joaquin County.
Go to the San Joaquin County hub →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 ↗