KVCR News reported that the Perris City Council voted on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, to suspend its contract with Flock Safety. The vote came after many residents spoke against the company's license plate readers at the meeting, citing privacy and safety concerns.
Perris is the first city in the Inland Empire to suspend a Flock Safety contract, according to KVCR News. In 2023, the city of Coachella rejected a proposal to install roughly 70 Flock cameras.
What did the Perris council vote on?
- Action: suspend the two-year, $615,000 contract with Flock Safety
- Cameras: 104 license plate recognition cameras at intersections across the city
- Signing: the council first voted to sign a contract agreement in March 2024
- Expiration: the contract expired in June
Why did Perris suspend the contract?
Councilmember Malcolm Corona voted to suspend. He said one of the main reasons the city adopted plate readers was to combat vehicle theft. Riverside County Sheriff's office crime statistics cited by KVCR News show a 60% drop in motor vehicle theft since 2022. Corona said the issue now is that Flock Safety has lost public trust.
Councilmember Marisela Nava questioned the safety of the company's surveillance tools and how it stores its data. Ashley Williamson, a city resident and member of R.I.S.E. Perris Pride, told the council the system has misidentified plates and cars more often than the company advertises.
Mayor Michael Vargas and Councilmember David Starr Rabb voted no. Vargas said there is no state sharing and that this is not an immigration tool. Rabb said the city would have to answer to future crime victims affected by losing the cameras.
Before the vote, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department presented at the meeting. A department spokesperson told KVCR News that losing the technology would cause significant investigative delays.
What changes for drivers?
The vote covers Perris's contract with Flock Safety, which covers the 104 cameras the company installed. KVCR News does not say whether those cameras have been turned off or when they would be removed. Rabb asked whether the city was prepared to tell future crime victims that the cameras had been taken down, so that question remains open.
The vote does not address cameras run by neighboring cities, the county, the state, businesses or HOAs. Those stay where they are. To see which cameras are mapped near you, check the camera map. For background on what the cameras record, read how plate readers work.
What should residents ask the city?
- When will the 104 cameras be turned off, if they have not been already?
- What happens to the data already stored, and how long is it kept?
- Will the sheriff's department keep access to Flock data after the suspension?
- What safeguards must be in place before the council would revisit the contract?
Published transparency records for Perris agencies are listed on the agency transparency page. KVCR News does not name a next council meeting or deadline for the cameras, so the city's meeting agendas are the place to watch for it.