Fresno police review three Flock camera searches amid privacy concerns
Fresno police run thousands of Flock searches each month, but only three are audited for privacy compliance, fueling concerns at a central Fresno forum.
Fresno police conduct thousands of Flock camera searches each month, but privacy audits review only three of them. That mismatch drew sharper attention at a community forum at the Ted C. Wills Community Center in central Fresno, where residents raised concerns about privacy, data collection, security and personal liberty.
Chief Mindy Casto defended the program before a packed room. She defended the system as a crime-reduction tool, not a surveillance one, and pointed to a steep drop in violent crime in Fresno. "In 2020, we had 732 shootings in the city... 74 murders. Just last year, we were able to bring that down all the way to 162 shootings and 22 murders."
Fresno police use about 70 Flock cameras citywide. The cameras are placed in high-crime areas using years of shooting and auto-theft location mapping data. The system reads license plates, captures vehicle images and logs timestamps. The cameras do not use facial recognition.
Residents who attended the central Fresno meeting pressed police over how much information the system collects and who can access it, especially if another agency seeks the data. Privacy advocates warn that even a license-plate reader network can become a broader surveillance tool if safeguards are weak or if the data move beyond Fresno.
California State Auditor report 2019-118, issued in February 2020, found law enforcement needed stronger safeguards for automated license plate reader data. A separate February 13, 2020 report on Fresno police found the department should do more to protect the privacy of drivers whose plates are captured by its camera system.
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