Who runs surveillance cameras in Stanislaus County?
Also listed here because the record shows it
These systems are documented primarily as something else. They appear here because a cited record shows the deployment also does this.
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The system is described throughout as a security camera system as well as a plate reader system, with cameras at parks, a skate park, a river access area and intersections.
- Expanding License plate readers [Turlock Police]
The department's own staff report says the Flock cameras can capture images of vehicles with no license plate attached or with a plate cover, and can be searched for vehicles by bumper stickers, decals and roof racks.
On the map
- 0
- Verified by us
- 17
- Community-reported
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including community reporting via the DeFlock project. Tiles by OpenFreeMap.
What we do not know
Security camera and license plate reader system [Riverbank Police]
- How long the system keeps what it records. No retention period appears in the item, and we have found no usage and privacy policy for a system that has been running since 2019.
- How the sharing described here fits with the countywide network. This report says data is not shared with other agencies except during an active investigation. Turlock's 2025 report describes a countywide network on the same vendor with reciprocal access between members. Both are staff reports and we have no document that reconciles them.
- Whether the system has grown since 2022, and whether the analytics the refresh enabled are in use. The report says a traffic-counting capability existed and had not been used.
- Whether "shot detection" was ever added. The 2022 report names it as something that could be added "down the road" and nothing we have read says it was.
- What the council decided on 11 October 2022, and whether anyone spoke.
License plate readers [Turlock Police]
- What records retention schedule the policy points at. Chapter 437 says plate data "should be stored in accordance with an established records retention schedule" and does not contain, name, date or cite one. Without it there is no answer to how long a Turlock plate read is kept.
- Who administers the countywide EPIC iO network, under whose policy, and with what retention. The department's own policy defers vendor-held data to the vendor, so for data arriving through the network the rules may be written somewhere Turlock's council never voted on.
- How many intersections have cameras. The same staff report says five in one paragraph and six in another.
- How chapter 437.7 fits with the Records Maintenance and Release Policy. Having excluded out-of-state and federal agencies from the definition of a public agency, 437.7 routes their requests to a different chapter of the manual, which we have not read.
- What the council actually decided on either 2025 item, and whether anyone spoke. We read the staff reports and resolutions, not the minutes.
What camera networks are
Fixed and steerable cameras run by a public agency, often networked so footage from many locations can be watched or searched from one place.
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 confirmed where each of them meets in Stanislaus County and how public comment works there.
How to show up in Stanislaus County →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 ↗