Kurtis Ostrom addresses Roseville City Council about ALPR/ Flock Cameras 8/5/26

Our Take

Credit where it's due: Central Sierra Foothills DSA filmed and posted this clip of Kurtis Ostrom standing up at a Roseville City Council meeting to question why Flock Safety's license plate readers are running in his city. That's the unglamorous, essential work of accountability — showing up, getting on the record, and making elected officials answer for a surveillance system most residents never voted on and few fully understand.

This is exactly how ALPR networks have spread across California and the country: procurement happens quietly through a police department or a city manager's office, often framed as a tool against car theft or hit-and-runs, with little public debate about data retention, who else gets access to that data, or how a private company ends up holding a searchable log of where everyone in town drives. One resident pressing a council in a public comment period is a small moment, but it's the kind of friction that forces these decisions into daylight instead of letting them slide through on a consent agenda.

If you're in Roseville — or anywhere else — and didn't know your city had these cameras until someone else brought it up, that's the problem in a nutshell. Check our camera map to see what's been documented near you, and head to our take-action page if you want to push your own council the way Ostrom just did.