The Fullerton City Council voted 3-1 to switch off the city's Flock Safety license plate readers for six months. The pause covers all 19 of the city's cameras, and the council promised a community meeting on the technology.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Fullerton is the first city in Orange County to suspend its Flock cameras. The vote came on a Tuesday, and the story ran Oct. 10, 2026.
What did Fullerton's council decide?
Three members backed the moratorium. Councilmember Jamie Valencia dissented, and Mayor Fred Jung was absent.
Here is what the Los Angeles Times reports about the system and the deal:
- 17 stationary cameras and two mobile cameras, 19 in all
- The cameras take still photos of vehicles and plates. They do not record audio or video.
- Data is kept for 30 days, and backup data is deleted a week after that
- The city pays $51,000 a year, according to Police Chief Jon Radus
- The contract with Flock runs through 2028
- Fullerton has used plate readers since 2007 and first contracted with Flock five years ago
The contract is not being canceled. The council chose a pause.
Why a pause and not a cancellation?
Councilmember Shana Charles said she did not want to rip out the cameras right now, but did want them turned off and a community meeting held. Councilmember Ahmad Zahra said the point is to see how effective the cameras are by checking whether the city gets "the same results without them."
Councilmember Nick Dunlap was the swing vote for the full six months. Valencia argued the cameras have helped officers and tried to shorten the pause to two or three months.
Chief Radus told the council the cameras have helped detectives with cases from burglaries to attempted murder. He said no arrests rest on a photo alone. He also said state law bars sharing the data for federal immigration enforcement, and that his department moved its system audits from annual to quarterly.
More than a dozen speakers criticized the system, and some wanted the cameras gone from the city.
What changes for drivers in Fullerton?
The city's own 19 cameras are the ones being turned off. The Los Angeles Times doesn't say on what date the shutoff starts, or whether the data already collected will be deleted early.
Not everything changes. Cal State Fullerton has 46 license plate reader cameras that the Los Angeles Times says are outside the city's jurisdiction, so the moratorium doesn't touch them. Cameras run by other agencies, businesses or neighborhood groups are not covered by the council's vote either.
To see what is mounted near your route, check the camera map. Published transparency records for local agencies are listed on the agencies page.
What can residents ask the city?
The source leaves several things open, and they make good questions for the council or the police department:
- When does the shutoff start, and when does the six-month clock end?
- When and where is the community meeting?
- Which crime-solving numbers will the council track, and who will publish them?
- What will the audit protocols with Flock include?
Nearby, Costa Mesa kept its Flock cameras but changed its data retention and sharing terms. Santa Ana, which was expected to discuss the matter Tuesday, will take up its Flock and Motorola Solutions agreements at a later meeting.
What happens when the six months end?
The council says it will look at crime-solving data trends, work with Flock on audit protocols and review its policies. No date for the community meeting appears in the Los Angeles Times report. The cameras stay switched off until the council acts again at the end of the pause.