Who runs license plate readers in Santa Cruz County?
- Active License plate readers
- Agency
- Capitola Police Department
- Vendor
- Flock Safety
- Devices
- —
- Expanding License plate readers
- Agency
- Watsonville Police Department
- Vendor
- Flock Safety
- Devices
- —
- Retired License plate readers
- Agency
- Santa Cruz Police Department
- Vendor
- Flock Safety
- Devices
- —
| System | Agency | Vendor | Status | Devices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| License plate readers | Capitola Police Department | Flock Safety | Active | — |
| License plate readers | Watsonville Police Department | Flock Safety | Expanding | — |
| License plate readers | Santa Cruz Police Department | Flock Safety | Retired | — |
On the map
- 0
- Verified by us
- 94
- Community-reported
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including community reporting via the DeFlock project. Tiles by OpenFreeMap.
What we do not know
Capitola Police
- The executed master services agreement, and the amendments the council directed the City Attorney to make.
- What the vendor answered on data-sharing and data-retention practices.
- The department's license plate reader usage and privacy policy, and any audits.
- The renewal terms and the camera count since the reported ten; Lookout Santa Cruz reported in August 2026, citing its own April story, that the contract had renewed automatically.
Watsonville Police
- The executed order form, countersigned, and any amendments since the September 2025 vote.
- The installed camera locations and the current count.
- The list of agencies with access to Watsonville data, and when access was granted or removed.
- The annual browsing audits Policy 470.9 requires.
Santa Cruz Police
- The contract itself, and the termination notice the council directed, with its effective date.
- The sharing and search logs for the period the readers ran.
- The Policy 415.7 annual audits for 2024 and 2025, and what they found.
- Whether a replacement vendor is proposed, and on what terms.
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 Santa Cruz County.
Go to the Santa Cruz 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 ↗