Flock Camera Community Meeting Follow-up

Thank you to everyone who attended or streamed the Santa Rosa Police Department's Flock Community Meeting on September 17.  

We appreciate the thoughtful questions, respectful dialogue, and valuable feedback shared by community members throughout the evening. Community engagement is essential to maintaining trust and ensuring transparency in how public safety technology is used.  

During the meeting, we discussed: 

• How Flock cameras assist investigations into serious crimes 
• Privacy protections and data-retention limits 
• Auditing and oversight requirements 
• Information-sharing restrictions 
• Training and accountability 
• Opportunities for policy review and continuous improvement  

Chief John Cregan highlighted several recent changes that we have made to strengthen our program based on community input.  The changes that were made this month include: 

• Restricted sharing to only allied law enforcement agencies in Northern California. 
• Require a signed MOU from every Chief of Police or Sheriff with whom we share data. The MOU requires access to be granted for only documented law enforcement investigations.  
• Increased the frequency of audits to weekly for all ALPR searches to ensure compliance with our policies and procedures. 
• Enhanced our ALPR Transparency Portal to include documentation of the reason for all ALPR searches within the last 30 days. 
• Required additional training for all SRPD officers with the online Flock Academy program.  
• Utilizing our Independent Police Auditor to examine best practices for law enforcement use of the ALPR program. 

Chief Cregan and SRPD personnel appreciate the community's participation and the diverse perspectives that were shared. We are committed to reviewing the feedback received and identifying opportunities to strengthen our practices, policies, and community outreach efforts. 

We will review all of the feedback and questions submitted during the meeting to identify themes and address concerns. Chief Cregan's presentation and a video recording of the meeting are available on our website now. Access the presentation and video here.  

We invite all community members to take the "ALPR Survey for the Santa Rosa Police Department" that was offered during the community meeting. The survey will be live until 5:00 p.m. on October 1st. Access the survey here. 

Thank you again for taking part in this important community conversation. Your engagement helps us improve public safety while maintaining our commitment to privacy, transparency, and accountability.  

Media inquiries can be directed to Sgt. Patricia Seffens, Public Information Officer, at 707-543-3634 or pseffens@srcity.org.