San Francisco's roughly 400 Flock automated license plate readers have become a key issue in city elections after a June SFPD audit found federal and out-of-state agencies searched local plate data hundreds of times, raising immigration enforcement and privacy concerns. Mayor Daniel Lurie responded by tightening restrictions, including a 30-day data retention limit.
Candidates are split. In the race to succeed Nancy Pelosi, Connie Chan wants to end federal funding for Flock, while Scott Wiener backs plate readers with privacy safeguards but hasn't committed on renewing the city's contract. Board of Supervisors incumbents are similarly divided: Matt Dorsey wants to renew and expand the program, Stephen Sherrill supports it conditionally, and Alan Wong backs crime-fighting tech generally without a specific Flock stance. In District 8, Gary McCoy, Darshini Patel, and Michael Nguyen all oppose the cameras, while District 10 candidates range from opposition to conditional support with added oversight.
The debate centers less on whether Flock cameras help solve crimes and more on whether new safeguards adequately address surveillance and data-sharing risks.
