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Sonora Police | License plate readers

The City of Sonora operates two automated license plate readers at its entrance routes. In the council records we reviewed we found no vote awarding a contract for them, and no published copy of the usage and privacy policy state law requires.

At a glance

Devices
2 license plate readers, 2 fixed cameras [6]
Vendor
Rekor Recognition Systems [5]
Cost to date
about $46,000, from two federal grant programs [2]
Approved by council vote
no award vote found in the council records we reviewed [2]
Data retention period
not stated in any record we could find [8]
Data sharing
the city says data is not automatically shared through a reader network [11]
Required privacy policy (SB 34)
the city says it has policies; we could not find one published [11] [8]

How it happened

  1. Procurement

    Police issue a request for proposals for license plate readers

    The specification asks for two fixed license plate readers and two fixed cameras. It requires reads at highway speed, capture of vehicle make and color, and data sharing with other agencies through a common "data lake." [1]

  2. Decision

    Grant funding for two readers appears in the adopted budget

    The adopted city budget discloses $32,416 in Homeland Security grant funds for two cameras at "the City's primary ingress and egress routes," plus a $14,000 federal recovery-fund line. In the council packets we reviewed we found no separate acceptance of the grant and no vendor contract award. [2]

  3. Deployment

    The department reports both readers operational

    The police annual report to the council states the two cameras are "placed and are operational," with a state Department of Justice interface in progress. [3]

  4. Denied

    A request for eight more readers goes unfunded

    The department asks for $64,000 in local sales-tax funds for eight additional readers. The budget process does not fund the request. [4]

  5. Decision

    The council authorizes a state retail-theft grant application

    The council authorizes a state retail-theft grant application on its consent calendar, the batch of routine items approved in a single vote without discussion. The agenda title does not mention cameras. The application itself, filed three days later, asks for $427,751, most of it for ten more Rekor readers and a reader-equipped trailer. The staff report gave the council a figure of about $250,800. [10] [5]

  6. Denied

    The state grant is not awarded

    Sonora is absent from the state award list. The ten-camera expansion never happens. The authorizing resolution had directed the chief to return to the council with the results. We found no such report on a later agenda. [7] [10]

  7. Decision

    The council adopts a camera policy that exempts police cameras

    The city's first and only camera policy covers City Hall and the parking garage, with a 60-day retention limit. A one-paragraph exemption removes every police camera, including the license plate readers, from its scope. [8]

  8. Denied

    A second expansion request is marked "Not Recommended"

    The department asks for $116,800 for eight readers. The budget book lists the request as not recommended, restates the current inventory of two readers and two cameras, and notes that local retailers have offered power and internet connections for future units. [6]

  9. Expansion

    New readers are coming through a county road-safety grant

    A budget update reports that a federal Safe Streets grant, obtained in partnership with the county transportation council and the Sheriff, was awarded, and that the city expects to add readers at city locations. We found no Sonora agenda item taking up the expansion. [9]

  10. Coverage

    The city states that it does not use Flock and that its readers are self-hosted

    In a statement from the City Administrator and the police chief, the city says it does not own, operate, or contract with Flock Safety, and that its license plate reader systems are "self-hosted within city infrastructure, with the city retaining ownership and control of the data." It says the data is not automatically shared through a reader network, that access runs through user permissions, and that the city and department "have clear policies for how information is used, accessed, secured, kept, and shared." [11]

What the department asked for

In April 2021 the Sonora Police Department published a request for proposals for two license plate readers and two fixed cameras, specifying highway-speed plate reads, vehicle descriptions, and data sharing with other agencies.[1]

How it was paid for

The money appears a year later, in a paragraph of the adopted city budget: $32,416 in federal Homeland Security grant funds for two cameras at what the department called the city’s primary ingress and egress routes, plus a $14,000 federal recovery-fund line.[2] Sonora has a handful of roads in and out. By February 2023 the department reported both units operational, with a connection to the state Department of Justice in progress.[3] We read the council’s published agenda packets from August 2020 through August 2026 and found no contract award for the readers and no separate acceptance of the grant.

Attempts to expand it

The department has tried three times to grow the system. A 2023 budget request for eight more readers went unfunded.[4] A state retail-theft grant application that same summer asked for $427,751, most of it for ten more readers and a camera trailer. The council authorized that application on its consent calendar, the batch of routine items a council passes in one vote without discussion, under a title that never mentioned cameras, after a staff report that put the figure at about $250,800.[5] The state said no.[7] A second budget request, in 2025, was marked not recommended.[6] A fourth expansion is now underway through a federal road-safety grant obtained with the county, which the department says will add readers at city locations. We found no Sonora agenda item taking up that expansion.[9]

What the city says about Flock

On 14 August 2026, as scrutiny of Flock Safety grew nationally, the city and the police department issued a statement saying they do not own, operate, or contract with Flock. The statement describes the readers as self-hosted, with the city keeping ownership and control of the data, no automatic sharing through a reader network, and access governed by user permissions.[11] The 2021 specification had asked for sharing with other agencies through a common “data lake.”[1]

What governs it

State law requires an agency that operates license plate readers to post a usage and privacy policy stating what is collected, who can see it, and how long it is kept. The city says it has policies; we could not find one published on the city or department websites.[8] The one camera policy the council has adopted covers City Hall and the parking garage, sets a 60-day retention limit there, and exempts police cameras from its scope.[8] For the readers on the city’s entrance roads, we found no public document stating how long the data is kept, who can search it, or with whom it is shared.

Questions

Who operates the license plate readers in Sonora?
The Sonora Police Department operates two readers at the city's entrance routes. In August 2026 the city stated that it does not own, operate, or contract with Flock Safety, and that its systems are self-hosted with the city keeping ownership of the data. The city's stated inventory is two readers and two fixed cameras; camera locations mapped by the community beyond that are not accounted for by any city record we found. [11] [5] [6]
Was there a public vote to install them?
Not that we could find. The cameras were funded through a Homeland Security grant line inside the adopted city budget and a federal recovery-fund allocation. In the council packets we reviewed, no agenda item awarded a contract or separately accepted the grant. [2]
Is there a privacy policy for the license plate data?
The city said in August 2026 that it and the department "have clear policies for how information is used, accessed, secured, kept, and shared." We could not find such a policy published. California Civil Code section 1798.90.51, from Senate Bill 34, requires an agency operating license plate readers to post one. The department's policy manual mentions license plate readers only in a data-breach notification list, and the city's one camera policy exempts police cameras. [11] [8]

On the map

The community has mapped 13 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 confirmed where each of them meets in Tuolumne County and how public comment works there.

How to show up in Tuolumne 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.
    Sonora Police Department, Request for Proposals: ALPR Systems Project · Primary document · · accessed · archived copy · our copy (488 KB)
  2. 2.
    City of Sonora, adopted budget FY 2022/23, council packet of June 21, 2022 (police department goals, p. 53) · Meeting record · · accessed · archived copy
  3. 3.
    Sonora Police Department annual report, council packet of February 6, 2023 · Meeting record · · accessed · archived copy
  4. 4.
    City of Sonora, proposed budget FY 2023/24, council packet of June 5, 2023 (supplemental budget requests) · Meeting record · · accessed · archived copy
  5. 5.
    Sonora Police Department, grant application to the Board of State and Community Corrections, "Standing Together Against Theft" · Primary document · · accessed · archived copy · our copy (840 KB)
  6. 6.
    City of Sonora, proposed budget FY 2025/26, council packet of June 16, 2025 · Meeting record · · accessed · archived copy
  7. 7.
    Board of State and Community Corrections, Organized Retail Theft Prevention Grant Program award summaries · Primary document · accessed · archived copy · our copy (151 KB)
  8. 8.
    City of Sonora, Resolution 04-15-2024-D and Security Camera Policy, council packet of April 15, 2024 (pp. 43 to 46) · Meeting record · · accessed · archived copy
  9. 9.
    City of Sonora, budget update, council packet of March 2, 2026 · Meeting record · · accessed · archived copy
  10. 10.
    Sonora City Council, Resolution 07-03-2023-B, meeting of July 3, 2023 (item 11) · Meeting record · · accessed · archived copy
  11. 11.
    myMotherLode, "City Of Sonora And Law Enforcement Says It Does Not Use Flock Safety Cameras" · News · · accessed · archived copy

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