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A running, sourced timeline of how license-plate readers, body cams and AI policing tools are actually going — and what the failures cost taxpayers.

Timeline / entry

· San Francisco, CA

SFPD suspends Flock camera network access after audit finds improper queries

San Francisco police suspended access to its Flock license plate reader camera network after a routine audit found that out-of-state and federal agencies made queries into the network, violating state law. The department said nearly 300 improper inquiries were made in the last year. Chief Derrick Lew said the audit did not indicate queries related to immigration enforcement or reproductive rights, and ICE and DHS were not involved. Lew said the department is unlikely to terminate its Flock contract. 400 Flock cameras were installed in San Francisco in 2024. Earlier this year, Santa Clara County ended its contract with Flock Safety after a Mountain View audit found federal agencies accessed city data.

Also in San Francisco, CA

7 entries over 17 yr 4 mo, oldest first. The gap is the time since the previous one.

  1. San Francisco settles plate-misread gunpoint stop for $495,000
  2. +16 yr 5 moSFPD let out-of-state agencies run 1.6 million searches of its Flock data, some for ICE
  3. +6 monthsClass action says Flock illegally shared Californians' plate data with federal and out-of-state agencies
  4. +4 monthsSan Francisco Police Audit Shows Feds ‘Improperly’ Accessed License Plate Data Hundreds of Times
  5. same daySFPD audit finds Flock camera data accessed on behalf of federal, out-of-state agencies
  6. +1 daySFPD suspends Flock camera network access after audit finds improper queries this entry
  7. +28 daysClass action alleges Motorola and Vigilant illegally shared California license plate data

Sources

  1. San Francisco police suspend Flock camera network access following 'improper queries' — KALW, Jun 18, 2026 (kalw.org)

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