Quick Take:
After Santa Cruz ended its contract with Flock Safety, activists are stepping up efforts to persuade Watsonville to do the same — and at least one councilmember who previously supported the surveillance cameras is beginning to have second thoughts.
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The successful campaign to remove Flock Safety surveillance cameras from Santa Cruz is giving momentum to activists trying to persuade Watsonville to do the same.
That was a central message Sunday, when Get the Flock Out organizers and supporters gathered on the steps of the Santa Cruz County courthouse to celebrate successfully getting rid of the technology in Santa Cruz in January, while turning their attention to the nearly 50 cameras still operating in Watsonville and Capitola.
In Watsonville, organizers have continued meeting with city leaders and candidates since the city council voted last year to renew its contract with the controversial license-plate reader company and add 17 cameras. With 37 cameras now operating across the city, Watsonville has the largest number of cameras of any jurisdiction in Santa Cruz County with 37; Capitola, the only other jurisdiction in the county with Flock cameras, has 10.
Lourdes Barraza, an organizer for Get the Flock Out in Watsonville, said she continues to have conversations with elected officials and city council candidates about the technology, and the efforts might be paying off.
Casey Clark, one of the five city councilmembers who voted to renew the contract, is now saying that his perspective on the cameras is beginning to change.
He previously told Lookout that he ended up voting for renewing the contract because he trusted the information provided by the city’s police department, and was satisfied with the fact that all information gathered by the Flock cameras is owned by the police department and no one else could access it without permission.
The cameras automatically log license plates and other identifying details about every car that passes through their field of view. Unflagged data collected by these license plate readers is stored for a 30-day retention period before it is permanently erased. However, an exception applies if a clip becomes part of an ongoing investigation. Watsonville can also grant access to footage by outside law enforcement agencies if requested.
“The idea of Flock is wonderful,” Clark told Lookout earlier this week. “Especially in Watsonville, where we don’t have many boots on the ground. Flock has been beneficial for community safety.”
In February, Watsonville Police Chief Brian Shab told Lookout that the cameras are helpful, especially at a time when most police departments are struggling with staffing issues, and that leveraging this type of technology in a fair and transparent way is a game-changer.
However, Flock is run by people, Clark said, “and people can be fallible and make some really bad decisions,” which is where his concern is focused.
Critics of the technology, locally and nationally, argue that Flock’s network allows law enforcement agencies to track, log and share individuals’ movements without a warrant and with few regulations. The company has also faced criticism for sharing information directly with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Last winter, members of GTFO reported that a former Georgia police chief searched Capitola’s Flock data in early 2025 to stalk and harass private citizens.
Following a conversation with Barraza and her husband, Gabriel, Clark said he’s been doing his own research and digging through news articles in order to figure out where he stands on the issue. He added that it’s disappointing to see many examples of law enforcement agencies misusing the system.
“I’m doing my due diligence, and that’s why the safe answer is that I am not as convinced as I was before,” said Clark.
Clark told Lookout he’s open to having another public discussion with his colleagues about the cameras sooner rather than later.
City Councilmember Jimmy Dutra, on the other hand, said he believes that there isn’t enough momentum to bring the issue back to the dais for a discussion, and added that Watsonville hasn’t dealt with any issues with the cameras.
“Flock has actually helped us solve a lot of issues we’ve had in our community,” Dutra said, and referenced a recent hit-and-run on Green Valley Road that left a person dead. Watsonville police were able to find the suspect using Flock cameras.
Dutra added that Flock is constantly making changes to its system. Last week, the company announced that it is shortening the data retention window from 30 days to seven, and will allow data to be preserved longer if it’s tied to a case number.
The company will also require all law enforcement agencies to implement an audit tool intended to flag “abnormal search behavior” as part of the changes. Watsonville police officials have previously told Lookout that their Flock system has a similar tool already in place and flags searches that reference immigration.
“Even they’re fine tuning how they operate,” said Dutra. “It’s just not an issue here in Watsonville.”
Dutra also pointed to Measure Y, a voter-approved half-cent sales tax intended to fund public safety initiatives, which he says shows how Watsonville residents take public safety seriously.
Dutra added that he’s willing to have a conversation with constituents in his district about the issue, if they have concerns about the cameras.
Currently, the city is not considering any changes to its contract with Flock, according to Watsonville Police Department spokesperson Erika Vazquez.
The department has no concerns regarding its use of the cameras as it regularly conducts audits to “ensure the technology is being used appropriately and in accordance with department policies and city expectations,” Vazquez said via email.
Vazquez said the department has “many successful examples” of using Flock to help solve cases. Earlier this month, the cameras helped recover a stolen truck within hours, and at the end of last year, the department used the cameras to arrest a registered sex offender who had allegedly exposed themselves to a woman in public.
The Flock issue is a “double-edged sword,” said Clark, and there are pros and cons to the technology that he and his colleagues on council will need to weigh, if there’s a potential conversation in the future.
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