Indio police face pushback and oversight questions in Flock camera presentation

Indio police gave the City Council a detailed look Wednesday at the city’s 72-camera automated license plate network, walking officials through system safeguards during a presentation that drew intense public scrutiny and an on-screen demonstration that appeared to expose private citizen vehicle data.

The informational briefing, intended to counter community concerns and clarify how officers use Flock Safety technology, quickly became a focal point for residents urging the council to cancel the contract.

Lt. Christopher Shannon ran the demonstration as part of a broader presentation on the city’s 72-camera Flock Safety system. He selected “Alcohol Offenses” from the system’s list of offense types, then said he had opened a case number with dispatch earlier that day and pulled up 30 days of results.

Rather than surfacing the intended example of a police car, the search returned what appeared to be real vehicles belonging to private citizens, displaying their license plates in full alongside photos of the cars and the locations where cameras had captured them.

The mishap came shortly after Police Chief Brian Tully told the council the system does not reveal driver identities, store biometric data or track vehicles continuously, and that captured data is deleted after 30 days.

Tully also told the council that federal and state courts across the country have upheld warrantless use of fixed-location automatic license plate reader (ALPR) systems under the Fourth Amendment, citing reasoning that each camera observation records only a vehicle at a specific place and time, that the system does not use facial recognition or identify vehicle occupants, and that license plates and vehicle exteriors are already exposed to public view.

The discussion of the Flock cameras was listed on the agenda only as a presentation item, not a vote to approve, renew, or cancel Indio’s contract with the camera vendor.

Lt. Shannon said police wanted to give the public a direct look at the system rather than let secondhand accounts define it. “We’ve seen all sorts of information, misinformation, disinformation,” he said.

One resident referenced the slip up directly during public comment. “I did see some private citizen vehicles because of a quick mistake,” she said. “Just pointing to the vulnerability of the system.”

Jonathan Becerra, a resident and candidate for Indio City Council’s District 4 seat, agreed. “What happens when you’re using such powerful technology, and little mistakes are made, moving too fast,” he said. “Poor people are hurt, queer people are hurt, people of color are hurt, and immigrants are hurt.”

Eight residents spoke up about Flock during the public comment period , and most urged the council to cancel its Flock contract, though that was not an item being considered on the agenda Wednesday night.

Speakers cited cases elsewhere they said illustrated the technology’s risks, including error rates, reports that authorities in Texas searched 83,000 cameras nationwide to look for a woman they said had self-administered an abortion and other reporting that found authorities have charged or accused at least 50 law-enforcement officers of using the cameras for unauthorized purposes like stalking.

Councilmembers pressed police on oversight during the presentation. Mayor Pro Tem Waymond Fermon asked which employees can access the system, and Tully said access is limited to sworn officers, dispatchers, the crime analyst, the IT systems engineer and one code enforcement employee.

Fermon told Tully that the mayor should be included going forward in the monthly audit reports police already conduct. “I think it would be a good idea for the mayor to have that idea of what’s going on,” Fermon said. Police agreed to the change.

The city expanded the camera network to its current 72 cameras in May, after the council approved 27 additional units in February 2025 at a cost of $321,735, according to a speaker during public comment.

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