I'm a District 5 resident and stand opposed to the FLOCK contract.

Over 40 organisations and the vast majority of public comment opposed; silencing them is abhorrent. Flock has continually, despite promises, been a bad actor in securing data, violating both local and state regulations.

We know the programs and solutions needed to keep us safe, thriving and caring for one another, and mass surveillance with FLOCK is not it.

I am a resident of District 4 and I strongly support OPD using Flock cameras. They have been shown to combat crime and the contract has safeguards in place to protect civil rights. Please vote to keep this essential tool to help our officers fight crime. It is the responsibility of city leadership to keep its residents safe and Oakland leadership often fails to do that. This technology assists the city and police in doing so and, at a bare minimum, can act as a deterrent.

I understand that the Privacy Advisory Commission expressed concern about trusting Flock as a vendor. I share the belief that technology partners must always be held accountable, but that’s exactly what Oakland’s contract achieves. The City owns all ALPR and community camera data. The agreement includes 30-day retention, no ICE access, full audit rights, and termination for any misuse. These are structural safeguards that don’t depend on “trust.” They rely on oversight, documentation, and enforceable legal terms.
Simple fact is we do not have enough police officers to keep our citizens safe and 2/3 of Oakland residents approve of this technology. Please approve the contract.

I strongly oppose the proposed contract with Flock. The company has a proven track record of collaborating with ICE, which has detained mosty innocent people, and been brutal in its practices. The Council's own Public Safety Committee and Privacy Commission have voted it down, and it is very concerning that the Council is changing its own rules to push through a multi-million dollar contract. The money could be much better used elsewhere. Oakland is better than this!

There is no safe application of mass surveillance. Studies have shown that mass surveillance technologies are an effective a tool used to suppress political activity and a threat to democracy, individual liberties, and mental health. What makes our communities safe isn't the number of cameras on our streets but the strength of human connection. It's neighbors looking out for neighbors and a foundation of trust between the people and their government. I strongly urge the City of Oakland to reconsider its investment in abusive surveillance technology and instead focus on addressing root causes of crime.

I oppose this Flock contract. While all residents support public safety, this does not mean that this particular contract with this company is worth the risks.

Even if desirous of increased surveillance, a contract such as this would need stronger safeguards to protect our residents’ privacy and protect against federal overreach. This proposal challenges our standing as a sanctuary city.

Flock has a soiled history in terms of keeping its promises, and there are reports across the country of Flock data being used to detain immigrants and even people seeking abortions. The company’s founder is a vocal ally of the current dangerous federal administration.

OPD has also had many reports of violating their own policy to not share data with federal agency.

Please prioritize privacy, transparency, and the democratic process. It is not appropriate for this same proposal (without edits or consideration of other companies to provide this service) is being pushed forward again.

Please demonstrate that Oakland cares about ALL residents, including our most vulnerable, and that OPD must consider other contract options with less besmirched companies.

This high degree of surveillance is too powerful to leave in the hands of a company has already been shown to break its promises.

D1 resident.

I am a resident of D4 and I once again OPPOSE the Flock contract.

The handful of pro-Flock commenters have been parroting OPD and Flock's claim that "federal and out-of-state agencies are prohibited from accessing OPD's data through Flock" in their attempt to counter the enormous public outcry against Flock in defense of our immigrant neighbors. However, Flock’s leadership already admitted that the company ran an undisclosed pilot program with CBP without customers' explicit authorization and did not prevent out-of-state agencies from accessing data. City Councilmembers are deliberately ignoring extensive evidence from multiple states, including California, that contradict statements from OPD and Flock:

* Washington State (Oct 2025): UofW study found Border Patrol had "back door" access to ALPR data from at least 10 local agencies that had not authorized such sharing

* Illinois (Sep 2025): Secretary of State audit found CBP illegally accessed ALPR data via Flock's system; Flock admitted a "pilot program" existed without local knowledge

* Colorado (Aug 2025): Over 1,400 ICE searches of Denver Flock data in a single year

* California (Jul 2025): SF Standard investigation found OPD fulfilled at least one request related to an ICE investigation; both SFPD and OPD conducted searches with federal agencies

Pushing this unpopular, expensive, dangerous program behind the public's back is indefensible.

I am a resident of Oakland, a former tech worker, and a researcher studying the impacts of surveillance technology on young people. I strongly oppose this resolution. Surveillance cameras do not protect us. They give more data to law enforcement agencies to police and target our immigrant neighbors, as we have seen this summer from SF and Oakland PD collaboration with ICE. If the city of Oakland truly cared about its residents' safety, it would invest in community resources to clean up our streets, provide afterschool programming to our youths, and offer mental health and addiction resources to our unhoused. Crimes are a reflection of a city that is unwell. Flock is a bandaid, symbolic gesture at best, and does not address the root causes. Our city's safety issues will only be addressed when we invest in our community. The real winner here is Flock, pocketing more money from Oakland residents. Let's drop the Flock contract, and invest that money to improve the quality of life for Oakland residents.

I oppose FLOCK.

This agenda item was voted down in the public safety committee a few weeks ago. It should not be back on the ballot. This item needs to go through the public safety committee again rather than to full council.

I also oppose surveillance technologies that do not make Oaklanders safer. These technologies only create the illusion of safety. Meanwhile behind closed doors, data will be passed to ICE to deport immigrants and wrongful arrests will be made without informing defendants how or why they are being incriminated. I do not want my every movement tracked. I do not want to be spied on. Through social media we already have enough surveillance data. We know that when crimes are documented, they are only prosecuted based on people's pre-existing bias. Being "caught in 4k" does not make us more just. It only gives us more of an excuse to go after people we don't like.

This contract also serves to enrich a surveillance company rather than investing in Oakland's people. The money could be better used to support Oaklanders rather than to treat its residents like they are all criminals.

I am a resident of D3 in Oakland, and I appreciate the position that Councilmember Fife has taken on this issue. The proposal to implement Flock security systems has been rejected multiple times over the past few weeks, yet the City Council and OPD continue to shoehorn it into the agenda during last-minute meetings that conflict with working class residents’ work schedules. Flock has a record of being unreliable and colluding with federal agencies (see Denver, CO, Evanston, IL, and Austin; TX). They are an untrustworthy organization, and our tax dollars would be better served by funding investments in our communities like improved lighting in business districts and residential neighborhoods, implementing safety ambassadors like those in downtown Oakland, focusing on violence prevention like what has been done in D4, and funding mental health crisis response services. NO to a contract with Flock, once and for all!!!

It is ridiculous to extend the Flock “Safety” ALPR contract. Flock devices are riddled with security holes, which any public defender could use to question the chain of custody.
And there are also data sharing breaches. Last month, the CHP sent an official notice to Flock “Safety” about unlawful data sharing from OPD and CHP ALPR systems to federal agencies, including the DHS and ICE. (CA SB 34 from 2015)
It’s hypocritical to go forward with this initiative and it puts Oakland citizens at risk of federal overreach and excessive force.
Is Oakland not the sanctuary city we claim to be?
Extending the contract with Flock “Safety” does not ensure Oakland’s safety.
Instead, doing so moves to collude with the federal agenda of Fascism.

I am a D3 resident. I urge the Council to do what SF and other neighbor cities have done: reduce crime by employing cameras and APLR technology. SF has dramatically reduced both violent and property crime rates. One of its most significant successes is the drop in larceny theft involving vehicles. SFPD attributes the dramatic drop in large part to technology including drones and license plate readers over the past couple of years that helped the department catch prolific quick smash-and-grab thieves. As reported in the SF Chronicle on 12/14/25, SFPD says, ‘Word has spread” among criminals, deterring new ones from trying their luck. "Criminals know that if they come to San Francisco we will hold them accountable.” If Oakland isn't part of the technological ranks of its neighbor Cities, we are sure to see even more crimes by those who have abandoned protected City streets and instead seek easy targets in Oakland. Oakland can and should protect against improper privacy intrusions as other jurisdictions have through strict contract penalty terms and audit requirements.

I am asking that you reject the proposed OPD Community Safety Camera System use policy and FLOCK Safety Contract. I am concerned about real-time surveillance and how that affects our community members and residents. The Privacy Commission rejected FlockOS because of the lack of meaningful safeguards and Flock’s own history of broken promises. Please help protect our privacy!

As an Oakland resident, I oppose the renewal of the contract with Flock for their invasive cameras that have been collecting sensitive data about residents.

That same data is at risk of hacking and sharing with federal immigration enforcement. Not to mention the fact that independent researchers have shown that Flock cams aren't even effective in helping to solve crimes and easily hackable (Jon “GainSec” Gaines; Joseph Cohen) .

I strongly urge you to vote no. I hope you can see the flaws in this technology and Orwellian approach to public safety. It's not too late to turn back now. Other cities like Richmond have taken the new evidence seriously and have ended or paused their contacts. If you want to address safety and community needs, please invest in community based solutions, youth/training programs and other programs.

Thank you for your consideration.

So what happened to the democratic process? 70% of ecomments were opposed to Flock, a Peter Thiel backed and Palantir affiliated company. With a history of using stolen data points, a willingness to lie about the effectiveness of its technology, and collaborations with the Trump Administration, you would think Oakland City Council would accept why Flock is so unpopular. but No Kings, right? sounds a lot like y’all don’t mind Kings at all. Sounds a lot like you are willing to give the keys to fascists who do not care one bit about any human being’s life.
Im sick of the fake progressives in this town, somehow running this town. Y’all don’t care about fascism at all as long as you aren’t the ones getting abducting and kidnapped and wrongfully detained. Cameras do not reduce or solve crime and we have known this a while. Education does. housing does. Youth Programs do. LISTENING to people does. I know you all know that though. So I have to assume you all just don’t care. Especially Kevin Jenkins and Rowena Brown, who said we would go through the democratic process. Dont even get me started on Houston, Unger, and Wang but let me just make it abundantly clear: You last 3 are no different than Trump, when you are making political moves that throw this city and its most vulnerable and marginalized people under the bus. I really don’t know what some of you are so smug for but a reminder that your job is paid for by our tax dollars and you are a civil servant.

I am a resident of D3. I have been carjacked at gunpoint, almost run down by a speeding car driving on the sidewalk on Grand Ave, and bitten by a dog living with a homeless person living in a car. I have lived in Oakland since 1970. I have paid property taxes here every year. The city has never seen this level of lawlessness. I’m tired of worrying about protecting my privacy at the risk of my safety. And frankly, as far as I can see, the only people’s privacy being protected are the criminals. Every city around us uses Flock cameras. Their criminals come to Oakland to break the law and enjoy their privacy. I support the use of Flock cameras in Oakland.

There’s a lot of misinformation about Flock ALPRs. The facts are simple:
• Cameras do not track people; they are not capable of facial recognition; they identify vehicles linked to crimes.
• Data belongs to the City not Flock; it is automatically deleted after 30 days and only the City can decide who will have access to it
• The system is restricted to authorized state & local law enforcement closed—no out of state agency, including ICE, can access it.
• Every use is logged, audited, and subject to civilian review
• They have significantly improved OPD’s clearance rate for major crimes resulting in 100 of arrests YTD

Oakland has built one of the most transparent, civilian-governed camera systems in the nation. The City’s Surveillance Technology Ordinance and departmental general orders (DGO I-12 & I-32.1) require annual audits, public reporting, and civilian review by both the Privacy Commission and City Council. State laws (SB34 & the proposed AB-1300) are among the most stringent and restrictive data sharing laws in the nation. The new Flock contract and OPD Use Policy have even stricter constraints on what can and cannot be done with the data in order to protect everyone's civil rights.. We shouldn’t let misinformation from other cities and states scare us away from tools that work. Let’s focus on facts and accountability instead of fear and speculation. VOTE YES to continue this responsible, transparent and effective safety program.

Surveillance and more cops DOES NOT make our community safer. Millions of dollars being used for surveillance is a WASTE of money and city resources that can be used MORE EFFECTIVELY by pouring into education, food, housing, mental health supports, gardens, emotional + somatic wellness programs, intergenerational healing, restorative / transformative justice circles, community building and violence prevention. NOOOO to hyper-surveillance and policing as solutions to violence and poverty, in a time when ICE Deportations are using data to track, imprison, and abuse immigrants, black and brown beings, who are being STOLEN FOR PROFIT!

We, the community, have been consistently opposed to FLOCK in Oakland and the council has voted against it multiple times. To move forward with the proposal would be to betray the trust of the community. Although drop in crime statistics will be cited as reasons for, we have seen increases in unconsitutional kidnappings of community members using cameras as just one example of how these cameras will be used unlawfully against us. To provide this system more data is to contribute directly to that, and must live on your conscious. Please vote with the community that has shown up time and again: OPPOSE this proposal.

I am a resident of District 4 and I STRONGLY SUPPORT OPD using Flock cameras. They have been shown to combat crime and the contract has safeguards in place to protect civil rights. Please vote to keep this essential tool to help our officers fight crime in our beautiful city.

I strongly SUPPORT this item. ALPR's like FLOCK systems SAVE LIVES by helping law enforcement in the following ways, and more:
- fast identification and apprehension of dangerous suspects;
- aiding in traffic enforcement (**badly needed in Oakland**);
- altering OPD to stolen or wanted vehicles in real time;
- enabling faster investigations;
- recovering abducted children and overall crime prevention
- find suspects in violent crimes
- improve security: by identifying unauthorized or suspicious vehicles entering a sensitive areas

**FLOCK acts as a needed force multiplier for Oakland’s understaffed police department**. Also, the recent Oakland Chamber of Commerce 2025 Pulse poll indicated that ***more than 2/3 of Oakland citizens are in favor of surveillance technology***

As of late 2025, FLOCK has a presence in over 49 U.S. states and provides its technology to roughly 5000 community law enforcement agencies

KEEP and EXPAND FLOCK:
Removing FLOCK will DECREASE PUBLIC SAFETY and law enforcement efficiencies in Oaklnd.

Complaints against FLOCK are exaggerated:
Only **20 of roughly 5000 FLOCK** contracts have been cancelled ( a meager.04% cancellation rate) , with most cancellations coming from communities that objected to FLOCK based on vigorous outcries from a vocal MINORITY of citizens who are reflexively against any surveillance.