FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The NAACP Santa Rosa–Sonoma County Branch opposes the continued use of Flock Safety Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) in Sonoma County without strong, locally controlled safeguards, transparency, civilian oversight, and accountability measures to protect the civil rights and civil liberties of our communities.
Surveillance technologies have historically raised serious concerns for communities already subject to disproportionate policing. Black and Brown communities, immigrants, and other historically marginalized populations should not be placed at greater risk through the collection, retention, sharing, or misuse of surveillance data—particularly during a time of heightened concern regarding racial justice, immigration enforcement, and federal access to locally collected information.
We are especially concerned about the potential for locally collected ALPR data to be accessed, shared, or otherwise used for federal immigration enforcement. Sonoma County is home to a significant immigrant community, and our local governments and law enforcement agencies have a responsibility to ensure that technologies adopted in the name of public safety do not undermine community trust or expose residents to unintended harm.
Before the continued or expanded use of ALPRs, we call upon Sonoma County elected officials and law enforcement leaders to:
- Establish clear, enforceable restrictions governing the collection, retention, access, and sharing of ALPR data, including protections against its use for immigration enforcement.
- Require meaningful public disclosure and community review before surveillance technologies are acquired, renewed, expanded, or materially changed.
- Establish independent civilian oversight, regular audits, public reporting, and clear consequences for misuse.
- Require agencies to demonstrate the necessity, effectiveness, proportionality, and potential disparate impacts of surveillance technology.
- Adopt a comprehensive Surveillance Technology and Community Safety Ordinance, drawing upon established models and resources, including Chapter 8.8 of the Sebastopol Municipal Code, the ACLU of Northern California’s Fighting Local Surveillance Toolkit and the Policing Project at NYU School of Law’s Authorized Policing Technology (APT) Act and Authorized Databases and Police Technology (ADAPT) Act.
- Ensure that community members—particularly those most likely to be affected by surveillance and over-policing—have a meaningful voice in decisions regarding these technologies.
Technology should never move faster than accountability.
A thoughtful and transparent decision-making process is imperative. Public safety and civil rights are not competing values. Sonoma County can and must protect both.
We urge our elected officials and law enforcement leaders to establish meaningful safeguards before continuing or expanding the use of Flock cameras and other government surveillance technologies.
###
The NAACP’s mission is to secure political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons. The vision is an inclusive community where all individuals exercise their civil and human rights without discrimination. The Santa Rosa – Sonoma County Branch was established in 1953.
