The Ventura Police Department (VPD) has changed procedures related to its Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) program after discovering a vendor-based configuration error by its provider, Flock Safety, on February 23, 2026. This agreement violation allowed unauthorized out-of-state law enforcement agencies to query VPD’s system.
The City of Ventura currently utilizes 23 Flock Safety ALPR cameras strategically placed throughout its jurisdiction to assist in criminal investigations involving violent offenders, stolen vehicles, missing persons, and other serious crimes. To ensure privacy, the system is designed to capture images of license plates and vehicle characteristics, not drivers or passengers, and store that data in a fully encrypted cloud environment for 30 days before automatic deletion. While the images are deleted, any inquiry made into the system becomes a permanent record, allowing the Department to maintain a transparent audit trail. Whether or not any data was provided through those queries, this directly violates the Department’s strict privacy protocols. Because of configuration issues with the system at the time of the unauthorized queries, VPD is unable to determine if vehicle data was provided to the outside agencies.
“We did not authorize or knowingly permit access to our ALPR data beyond our approved California law enforcement partners,” said Chief David Dickey. “We relied on our vendor’s assurances that the system was properly restricted. When we learned that a configuration violated our agreement and privacy standards, we implemented new protocols, including daily audits, to strengthen internal oversight and ensure data is properly restricted.”
In early February 2026 and following reports that vendor-related errors had occurred with other California agencies, VPD initiated a comprehensive 90-day audit of its Flock Safety ALPR system. This audit showed internal settings to California-only access and no federal or out-of-state access to local data. Over the past week, Ventura County agencies discovered data security issues prompting VPD to initiate an access audit of the past year, revealing that although VPD’s settings were set to California-only access, a vendor-enabled “nationwide query” function allowed out-of-state agencies to query Ventura’s data. These queries were completed without the Department’s knowledge or authorization.
The audit identified two out-of-state agencies queried VPD’s system through this vendor-enabled configuration between March and mid-September 2025. The Department’s audit showed that no federal agencies accessed or queried Ventura’s ALPR system during this same time frame.
In response to the discovery, Flock Safety took full accountability for the situation and “made changes and improvements to significantly enhance agency ability to effortlessly comply with applicable laws, regulations, and community norms that govern information sharing.”
To prevent future unauthorized access, Flock Safety has implemented several augmented safeguards ensuring data is properly privatized, including:
• Restricted Sharing: California agencies are now strictly prohibited from initiating or accepting data sharing outside of the state or with federal agencies.
• Federal Restrictions: Federal agencies can no longer discover or request data sharing in California, nor are they part of statewide or national lookup networks.
• Automated Blocks: Searches related to immigration and reproductive care are automatically blocked in California.
• Enhanced Auditability: Every search now requires a standardized National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) offense type entry, and any change to sharing settings is permanently logged to ensure a robust audit trail.
• Ownership: Cities and counties now retain 100% control over their ALPR data and independently determine who it is shared with.
An audit of VPD’s data from October 2025 through February 2026 confirms the new changes are properly protecting the data and preventing sharing with agencies outside of California.
“Public trust is not negotiable,” Dickey continued. “We must guarantee strict adherence to California law and our own privacy standards. While we recognize this ALPR system to be a very valuable tool that increases public safety in our community, we will always prioritize privacy compliance over operational convenience.”
The Ventura Police Department stated that it remains committed to transparency and will continue to provide updates as additional information becomes available.
It was stated that other Ventura County Law enforcement agencies, including the Oxnard and Santa Paula Police Department, had their ALPR networks inadvertently accessible by out of state law enforcement agencies. Flock Safety has accepted accountability and implemented plans to address the issue.