San Joaquin County Sheriff | Retail theft surveillance proposal
In an application to a state board for Organized Retail Theft grant funding, the Sheriff's Office asked for $2,449,087 over 44 months to buy 75 Flock cameras, Axon Fleet 3 license plate reader cameras, surveillance vehicles, four drones and ten GPS trackers. An application is a request. We found no record of an award in the documents we fetched.
At a glance
- What this document is
- An application to the California Board of State and Community Corrections for Organized Retail Theft grant funding, submitted 2023-07-07. An application is a request, not an award. [1]
- Equipment proposed, as written
- "The grant funds will be utilized to acquire state-of-the-art surveillance equipment, including Flock cameras and Axon Fleet 3 ALPR cameras, surveillance vehicles, drones, and trackers." [1]
- Amount requested
- $2,449,087.00 [1]
- Budget period, as printed
- "44-Month Budget: October 1, 2023 to June 1, 2027" [1]
- Cameras and vendor, as written
- "The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office will be purchasing (75) license plate reading cameras from the company Flock Safety during this three year grant period. The cost for each camera including installation and service is approximately $9,000.00 per camera". [1]
- Budget line items, as printed
- "75 Flock Cameras @ $9,000 each, $25,000 for installation, plus a 15% contingency", "4 DJI 30T Matrice drones", "10 Tacti Track Model TT25 GPS trackers", "2 Ford Transit Vans with Surveillance" [1]
- Tracker calculation, as printed
- "10 trackers @ $13,230 each, plus a 15% contingency" [1]
- Where the equipment would go, as written
- "These systems will be strategically placed in high-risk areas within the target area to deter criminal activities, gather evidence, and aid in the identification and arrest of suspects." [1]
- Award
- we found no award letter, no board award list and no county acceptance item in the records we fetched
- Equipment bought
- an application states an intent to buy; no purchase order, invoice or delivery record for any of this equipment is in the records we fetched
How it happened
- Procurement
The office applies for Organized Retail Theft grant funding
The application, which carries the printed submission date 07/07/2023, asks the California Board of State and Community Corrections for $2,449,087.00 across a "44-Month Budget: October 1, 2023 to June 1, 2027" to "acquire state-of-the-art surveillance equipment, including Flock cameras and Axon Fleet 3 ALPR cameras, surveillance vehicles, drones, and trackers." Its budget lines include "75 Flock Cameras @ $9,000 each, $25,000 for installation, plus a 15% contingency", "4 DJI 30T Matrice drones", "10 Tacti Track Model TT25 GPS trackers" and "2 Ford Transit Vans with Surveillance." [1]
The California Board of State and Community Corrections runs an Organized Retail Theft Prevention Grant Program, which local agencies apply to for money. The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office filed an application to it. This page covers what the office asked for. An application is a request, and nothing here says the equipment was funded or bought.
What is being asked for
The application states: “(a) Purchase and Installation of Surveillance Equipment: The grant funds will be utilized to acquire state-of-the-art surveillance equipment, including Flock cameras and Axon Fleet 3 ALPR cameras, surveillance vehicles, drones, and trackers. These systems will be strategically placed in high-risk areas within the target area to deter criminal activities, gather evidence, and aid in the identification and arrest of suspects.”[1]
The budget prints the specifics. It lists “75 Flock Cameras @ $9,000 each, $25,000 for installation, plus a 15% contingency”, “4 DJI 30T Matrice drones”, “10 Tacti Track Model TT25 GPS trackers” and “2 Ford Transit Vans with Surveillance,” and the tracker line reads “10 trackers @ $13,230 each, plus a 15% contingency.”[1] A GPS tracker is a device attached to a vehicle that reports its position over time, which is a different kind of equipment from a camera at a fixed point.
What it would cost, as asked
The budget tab carries the total the narrative pages do not. It sets out $1,000,000.00 in salaries and benefits, $805,000.00 in services and supplies and $644,087.00 in equipment, for a grand total of $2,449,087.00, across a “44-Month Budget: October 1, 2023 to June 1, 2027.”[1] That is the amount asked for. It is not an amount awarded, and no record we fetched shows one.
The application is also the only document we hold that names a supplier for the office’s license plate readers. It states that “The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office will be purchasing (75) license plate reading cameras from the company Flock Safety during this three year grant period,” and that “The cost for each camera including installation and service is approximately $9,000.00 per camera”.[1] A sentence in an application describes an intention. It does not show that the cameras were bought.
What it does not establish
The two large figures in the packet, “up to $6,125,000 in the Medium Scope category OR up to $15,650,000 in the Large Scope category,” are the ceilings the programme sets for its applicants, not this county’s request.[1]
We found no award letter, no board award list and no county acceptance item for this application in the documents we fetched, and no purchase order, invoice or delivery record for any of the equipment named in it. The application also gives no location beyond “high-risk areas within the target area,” so where any of this equipment would sit is unresolved on the face of the document.[1]
Questions
- Did the Sheriff's Office buy this equipment?
- We cannot say. The document is an application for state grant funding, which is a request. We found no award letter, no board award list, no county acceptance item and no purchase record for any of the equipment in the documents we fetched. [1]
- How much did the office ask for?
- The budget tab totals $2,449,087.00 across a "44-Month Budget: October 1, 2023 to June 1, 2027": $1,000,000.00 in salaries and benefits, $805,000.00 in services and supplies and $644,087.00 in equipment. That is the amount requested. No record we fetched shows an amount awarded. [1]
- What did the application propose buying?
- It proposed "state-of-the-art surveillance equipment, including Flock cameras and Axon Fleet 3 ALPR cameras, surveillance vehicles, drones, and trackers." The printed budget lines include "75 Flock Cameras @ $9,000 each, $25,000 for installation, plus a 15% contingency", "4 DJI 30T Matrice drones", "10 Tacti Track Model TT25 GPS trackers" and "2 Ford Transit Vans with Surveillance." [1]
- Does this document say who would supply the cameras?
- Yes. It states that "The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office will be purchasing (75) license plate reading cameras from the company Flock Safety during this three year grant period," at "approximately $9,000.00 per camera" including installation and service. It is the only record we fetched that names a vendor for the office's readers, and it describes an intent to buy rather than a purchase. [1]
- Where would the equipment have gone?
- The application says the systems "will be strategically placed in high-risk areas within the target area." It names no street, intersection or facility, and no later record we fetched names one. [1]
What we do not know
- Whether the application was funded, in what amount, and on what conditions.
- Whether the 75 Flock cameras named in the budget were bought, and how they relate to the readers the office already operates.
- Where any equipment bought with such funding was placed, and who operates it.
- Whether the two surveillance vans and the ten GPS trackers were bought, and what rules govern a tracker's use.
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 San Joaquin County.
What we have documented in San Joaquin 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
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