Santee surveillance cameras
The short version: CBS 8 reports Santee is weighing a Flock-style ALPR pilot, the latest Southern California city tempted by 'just a trial run' surveillance.
Our Take
CBS 8 San Diego's report on Santee is the same story we've watched play out in dozens of cities: a council gets pitched on a 'pilot program,' public safety promises get made, and the fine print about data retention, vendor access, and mission creep gets glossed over. Pilots have a funny way of becoming permanent infrastructure once a vendor like Flock has cameras bolted to poles and a monthly invoice going out.
What rarely gets asked in these council meetings is who else can query the database once it's built — other agencies, federal partners, insurance companies with the right contract. Santee residents deserve those answers before a single camera goes up, not after. Credit to CBS 8 for putting this in front of the public now, while there's still a chance to shape the policy instead of reacting to it.
If you want to see how dense this surveillance net already is across San Diego County and beyond, check our camera map, and if Santee is your town, our take-action resources walk through how to actually push back at the council level.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of CBS 8 San Diego, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.