Doorbell cameras and Flock Safety license plate readers help San Ramon police catch porch pirates

Our Take

Notice whose channel this video lives on: Flock's, not KRON's. That's the tell. A local news package about porch pirates is exactly the kind of low-stakes, high-sympathy crime story that makes automated license plate readers look like a neighborhood watch upgrade instead of what they actually are — a permanent, searchable record of every car that passes a camera, running 24/7 whether or not a package ever goes missing.

Doorbell footage catching a five-second theft is one thing; it's owned by the resident, reviewed on demand, and deleted when they choose. Flock's ALPR network is the opposite: fixed government or HOA-funded cameras logging plate, time, location and vehicle details for every driver, retained for weeks, and searchable by any agency with access — often with minimal oversight on how that data gets used or shared down the line. San Ramon PD closing a porch-piracy case is a genuine win for one household. It's also the anecdote Flock needs to justify blanket coverage of an entire town's roads.

Before your city council approves more poles, ask how long footage is kept, who else can query it, and what crimes actually get solved by mass plate tracking versus a doorbell cam alone. Check our map to see what's already watching your commute, and use our action guide to push back at the next public meeting.