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Watsonville Police | License plate readers

The City Council voted 5-2 on September 9, 2025 to lease 37 Flock Safety license plate readers for 24 months, adding 17 cameras to the 20 the police department had used since September 2023. A state environmental notice received in March 2026 covers camera installation at seven locations.

At a glance

Cameras
37 on the 2025 order form, adding 17 to the 20 in use since September 2023 [3] [4]
Approval
Resolution 241-25, adopted 5-2 on 2025-09-09 as item 7.l [1] [2]
Amount in the resolution
"NOT TO EXCEED $251,0000" as printed in the minutes; the agenda and the staff report say $251,000 [1] [2] [3]
Order form totals
Annual Recurring Subtotal $118,300.00; Contract Total $249,299.95 [4]
Term
"Initial Term: 24 Months" and "Renewal Term: 24 Months", renewing automatically unless either party gives notice of non-renewal at least 30 days before the end of the term [4]
Retention
The order form states a "Retention Period: 30 Days". Policy 470.6 states that data "should be stored for a minimum of one year" and, in the same section, that "Axon and Flock Safety will purge their data at the end of the 30 days of storage". The documents do not reconcile the two periods. [4] [5]
Funding stated in the staff report
$131,000 appropriated in the FY 25/26 General Fund, with $120,000 more to be requested in FY 26/27 [3]
Suspicion required to run a search
None. Policy 470.5 says "Reasonable suspicion or probable cause is not required before using an ALPR." [5]
Installation sites in the 2026 state notice
Seven locations, on cross streets Blackburn Dr, Bridge St, Industrial Dr, Green Valley Rd and Sakata Ln [6]
Agencies with access to the data
no sharing list appears in the packet documents we fetched
Audit results
Policy 470.9 requires an annual browsing audit; we did not find an audit memo in the records we fetched [5]

How it happened

  1. Deployment

    Twenty Flock cameras go into use

    The 2025 staff report states that "The Watsonville Police Department has been utilizing twenty (20) Flock Safety cameras since September 2023." [3]

  2. Decision

    Council adopts Resolution 241-25, 5-2

    The agenda item asked the council to "AUTHORIZE THE EXECUTION OF A 24-MONTH ORDER FORM FOR THE LEASE OF 37 AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READERS (ALRP) CAMERAS FROM FLOCK GROUP, INC." It was removed from the consent calendar, the batch of items a council approves in one vote, at the mayor's request and heard separately. [1] [2]

  3. Deployment

    State environmental notice for seven camera locations

    Notice SCH 2026030151 describes "the installation of a Flock Safety automated license plate reading (ALPR) camera to be installed on behalf of the Watsonville Police Department" at "7 Locations," claimed exempt under CEQA Guidelines section 15303(e). [6]

What the record establishes

The September 9, 2025 agenda asked the council to “AUTHORIZE THE EXECUTION OF A 24-MONTH ORDER FORM FOR THE LEASE OF 37 AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READERS (ALRP) CAMERAS FROM FLOCK GROUP, INC. (Recommended by Interim Police Chief Rodriguez).” The item, 7.l, was removed from the consent calendar at the mayor’s request and heard on its own.[2] The minutes record that “It was moved by Member Clark, seconded by Member Dutra, to approve the resolution listed under Item 7.l,” and that the motion “was carried by the following vote. AYES: MEMBERS: Clark, Dutra, Montesino, Parker, Salcido NOES: MEMBERS: Quiroz-Carter, Orozco ABSENT: MEMBERS: None.” The resolution is numbered 241-25 and covers the “LEASE OF THIRTY-SEVEN (37) AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READERS (ALPR) CAMERAS FROM FLOCK GROUP, INC., IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $251,0000,” which is how the figure is printed in the minutes; the agenda and the staff report say $251,000.[2]

The staff report states that “The Watsonville Police Department has been utilizing twenty (20) Flock Safety cameras since September 2023. We are requesting to execute a new contract with Flock, adding an additional seventeen (17) cameras,” and that “There is $131,000 in FY 25/26 appropriated in the General Fund for this lease, there will be an additional $120,000 requested in the FY 26/27 budget.”[3] A state environmental notice received on March 4, 2026 covers “the installation of a Flock Safety automated license plate reading (ALPR) camera to be installed on behalf of the Watsonville Police Department” at “7 Locations,” listing cross streets Blackburn Dr, Bridge St, Industrial Dr, Green Valley Rd and Sakata Ln.[6]

What the contract says

The order form attached as Exhibit A lists 37 units of “Flock Safety LPR, fka Falcon” in two lines of 19 and 18, an “Initial Term: 24 Months,” a “Renewal Term: 24 Months,” an “Annual Recurring Subtotal: $118,300.00” and a “Contract Total: $249,299.95.” It sets a “Retention Period: 30 Days,” and provides that “This Agreement will automatically renew for successive renewal terms … unless either Party gives the other Party notice of non-renewal at least thirty (30) days prior to the end of the then-current term.”[4] The copy in the packet is the form presented to the council; we have not seen a countersigned copy.

What the policy says

Policy 470, carrying a Lexipol stamp of August 5, 2025, was bound into the same packet. Section 470.5 says “Reasonable suspicion or probable cause is not required before using an ALPR.” Section 470.6 says data “should be stored for a minimum of one year,” and two paragraphs later in the same section says “Axon and Flock Safety will purge their data at the end of the 30 days of storage.” The order form sets a “Retention Period: 30 Days”. The documents are quoted here as they read; none of them reconciles the periods. Section 470.9 requires an annual browsing audit.[5] The staff report quotes section 470.2: the department “does not permit the sharing of ALPR data gathered by the City 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).”[3]

What it does not establish

The executed order form, the list of agencies with access to Watsonville data, and the audits Policy 470.9 requires were not in the records we fetched. Neither were the installed camera locations, so we cannot say where the 37 cameras sit or how many are running now. The 2023 order form bound into the packet covered “Flock Safety Falcon ® Included 20” units, with “Annual Recurring Subtotal: $62,500.00,” “Contract Total: $132,000.00” and “Retention Period: 30 Days”.[7] The council item that approved it was not read on this pass. The 2025 order form also carries one “Dual Solar LPR - Standard Bundle” line beside the 37 reader lines; how that bundle counts toward the device total is not stated.

Questions

How many license plate readers does Watsonville police have?
The order form the council authorized in September 2025 covers 37 units of "Flock Safety LPR, fka Falcon." The staff report says the department had been using 20 cameras since September 2023 and was adding 17. We have not seen an installed-camera list. [3] [4]
How long is the data kept?
The order form states a "Retention Period: 30 Days." Policy 470.6 states that data "should be stored for a minimum of one year" and, two paragraphs later, that "Axon and Flock Safety will purge their data at the end of the 30 days of storage." The 2023 order form also set 30 days. Which period applies to which copy of the data is not stated in the records we fetched. [4] [5]
Does an officer need suspicion to run a plate?
No. Policy 470.5 says "Reasonable suspicion or probable cause is not required before using an ALPR." [5]
Can the data go to immigration authorities?
Policy 470.2, quoted in the staff report, says the department "does not permit the sharing of ALPR data gathered by the City or its contractors/subcontractors for purpose of federal immigration enforcement," naming Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. [3]
What did the contract cost?
The resolution as printed in the minutes reads "IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $251,0000"; the agenda and the staff report say $251,000. The order form itself lists an "Annual Recurring Subtotal: $118,300.00" and a "Contract Total: $249,299.95." The staff report says $131,000 is appropriated in the FY 25/26 General Fund and $120,000 more will be requested in FY 26/27. [1] [2] [3] [4]

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 Santa Cruz County.

What we have documented in Santa Cruz 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.
    Watsonville City Council, agenda of September 9, 2025, item 7.l · Meeting record · · accessed · archived copy
  2. 2.
    Watsonville City Council, minutes of September 9, 2025 (Vol 66, Min-CC090925) · Meeting record · · accessed · archived copy
  3. 3.
    Watsonville Police Department, staff report on the Flock Safety order form, council packet of September 9, 2025 · Meeting record · · accessed · archived copy
  4. 4.
    Flock Group, Inc. order form for Watsonville PD, Exhibit A to Resolution 241-25 · Meeting record · · accessed · archived copy
  5. 5.
    Watsonville Police Department Policy 470, Automated License Plate Readers (Lexipol, 2025-08-05), council packet attachment · Primary document · · accessed · archived copy
  6. 6.
    California State Clearinghouse, SCH 2026030151, Flock Safety ALPR camera installation, City of Watsonville · Primary document · · accessed · archived copy
  7. 7.
    Flock Group Inc. order form with the City of Watsonville, 2023 (attachment 3 to the 2025-09-09 item) · Primary document · accessed · archived copy

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