Richmond, CA
The Richmond City Council voted 4-3 to reactivate the city's Flock Safety ALPR system under a new short-term contract running through 2026-12-31. Councilmembers Jamelia Brown, Soheila Bana, Cesar Zepeda and Doria Robinson voted in favor; Richmond Progressive Alliance-aligned members Claudia Jimenez and Sue Wilson and Mayor Eduardo Martinez opposed. The cameras had been switched off in November 2025 after Police Chief Timothy Simmons discovered a National Search feature was active, allowing outside agencies to access Richmond data in conflict with the city's sanctuary policies.
What moved this decision
- Public safety and crime arguments from the council majority
- Residents rallied to demand the cameras stay on
- Newly negotiated data-sharing protections with the vendor
- Countervailing sanctuary-policy objections from the minority and the mayor
What happened afterwards
This is a reversal of a reversal - a jurisdiction that shut its ALPR system down and then voted it back on. The cameras came back online 2026-05-08 after the city negotiated new data-sharing protections with the vendor. A legal threat over the reactivation remained outstanding as of late April 2026. Richmond's trajectory runs directly opposite to neighboring El Cerrito, which declined renewal weeks later; the two adjacent Contra Costa cities reached opposite conclusions on the same vendor within eight weeks.
What we still don’t know
These are the records we would need to describe this decision completely. If you can help obtain them, or already have them, get in touch.
- Camera count and contract value not established
- Whether the threatened litigation was filed, and its outcome
- What happens at the 2026-12-31 contract expiry