Auburn City Council Delays Vote on 12 Flock Cameras, Plans Resident Survey

First reported: October 13, 2026 · 2 sources

Auburn's City Council voted 5-0 on Monday to postpone a decision on the city's 12 Flock Safety license plate reader cameras, opting to gather more information and survey residents first. The cameras have operated since 2022 under a contract running through June 2028 at roughly $30,000 a year. Public pressure grew after a Sept. 21 town hall drew more than 100 residents and an audit found Auburn Flock data had been accessible in some cases to out-of-state and federal agencies; Police Chief Bryan Morrison said the exposure stemmed from old system settings, was inadvertent, and has since been shut off.

Why this matters

Auburn has no citywide ALPR policy, leaving the police department's own rules as the default — an arrangement council members are now reconsidering as they weigh a standalone policy and a community advisory committee. The case illustrates how default vendor sharing settings, discovered through a public records request, can expose gaps between what agencies believe they have authorized and what their systems actually do.

Key facts

The council voted 5-0 to delay a decision and survey residents; the cameras remain in operation in the meantime.
As of Oct. 1, the department said it shared data with 274 agencies and received data from 197, including 180 reciprocal agreements, and said current arrangements exclude federal and out-of-state agencies.
Morrison told CapRadio the system figured in roughly 230 investigations; the Sacramento Bee reported the department did not provide a full accounting of arrests or other outcomes.
The department says it lacks an efficient way to measure incorrect plate or vehicle identifications and has asked Flock to add a tracking feature; Morrison acknowledged the need for more formalized audits.
Ending the contract early would cost at least $6,000 ($500 per camera), though the article says Flock has not confirmed a final termination figure.
California's proposed SB 274, which would have limited default national database access and retention, failed on March 2, 2026, per CalMatters' Digital Democracy project.

Timeline

October 13, 2026Auburn Delays Flock Camera Vote as Residents Demand Answers on Data Sharing
October 13, 2026Auburn Delays Flock Camera Vote as Residents Demand Answers on Data Sharing

Sources

This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.

Auburn Delays Flock Camera Vote as Residents Demand Answers on Data Sharing (Hoodline, October 13, 2026)
Auburn Delays Flock Camera Vote as Residents Demand Answers on Data Sharing (Hoodline, October 13, 2026)

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About this record

BlockFlockNow documents reported incidents involving Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers: council votes, contract decisions, misuse by authorized users, lawsuits, audits, and community response. Every record is reviewed by a person before publication. New to the topic? Start with What is Flock?, find meetings near you, or learn how to request your town's camera records.

Updated October 17, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.