The receipts, the policies, the lawsuits, and the tools. Everything you need to read more, check your own town, and act. Updated as the story moves.
▶ See the machine run the whole Flock stack firing on one person, in under a minute
Flock leases cameras to towns for roughly $2,500 to $3,000 per camera per year. Here is what the sales pitch promises, and what the record actually shows.
Same peninsula, opposite directions. The cameras scan nearly everyone; almost no one is suspected of anything.
| Town | Cameras | Scanned / month | Tied to a crime | Agencies with access | Federal-entangled searches | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tiburon | 10 | 51,906 | 0.03% | 199 (was 132) | 16,029 Jul–Dec 25 | Expanded access 50% while under investigation |
| Belvedere | 6 | 26,085 | 26 hits, 4 searches | 7 (was 15) | 3,150 Oct–Dec 25 | Cut outside access Feb 12, 2026 after The Ark |
| Mill Valley | 6 + 2 PTZ | portal | portal | incl. Sheriff, Central Marin, Palo Alto | 1,013 Oct 25 | 30-day ALPR / 3-day video; CA-only; 6 agencies signed the MOU |
| Marin Sheriff | 31 | undisclosed | undisclosed | records pending | 2022: 400+ out-of-state, 18 federal | New Flock system 2024; settlement compliance unverified |
Sources: The Ark (Mar 24, 2026); Flock transparency portals (captured Jun 24, 2026); EFF / ACLU Lagleva v. Marin (2022).
Almost every number on this page traces back to The Ark, the weekly newspaper that has covered Tiburon, Belvedere, and Strawberry since 1973. Executive editor Kevin Hessel did not get a leak. He filed California Public Records Act requests, and then did the work almost no one does. He read the logs.
The town twice tried to deny the request and miscited state law. It hid the reason column on 576,000 searches. The Ark kept going, obtained the records, and then ran its own audit of them, finding 41 agencies and 16,029 potentially illegal searches that the police department's own audit had missed. That is what accountability journalism looks like, and it happened here, in a town of nine thousand people.
This kind of reporting is expensive and rare, and it is the reason any of this is on the record. If you live on the Peninsula, one of the most useful pro-privacy things you can do is subscribe to The Ark.
Flock publishes a portal for each agency: live camera counts, retention, and the list of agencies it shares with. Look for the gap between the policy and the search logs.
10 cameras. 199 sharing partners. The Sheriff is on the list.
transparency.flocksafety.com/tiburon-ca-pd6 cameras, 26,085 scanned a month, 4 searches. 30-day retention.
transparency.flocksafety.com/belvedere-ca-pdALPR + two live PTZ cameras. Sheriff and Palo Alto among partners.
transparency.flocksafety.com/mill-valley-ca-pdMill Valley has the most documented rules in the county. The policy looks restrictive on paper. The search logs above are what happened anyway.
30-day ALPR retention, 3-day live video. California agencies only, no federal, no out-of-state. Only 6 agencies signed the MOU.
Download PDFThe Lexipol ALPR policy: 30-day retention then purge, sharing limited to California public agencies under Civil Code.
Download PDFPublic-area cameras: video only, purged within 3 days, not shared with federal immigration enforcement.
Download PDFSB 34 carries a $2,500 minimum penalty per unauthorized access, plus attorney fees. The cases below are live.
EFF/ACLU sued the Sheriff over sharing with 400+ out-of-state and 18 federal agencies. Settled. New Flock system since deployed.
eff.org/cases/lagleva-v-marinEFF/ACLU argue California's constitution requires a warrant to search ALPR data. 3,965,519 searches in one year. A win binds Marin.
eff.org/cases/siren-v-san-joseDirect suit against Flock for SB 34 and California privacy violations. Residents can enroll. 866-407-2032.
classlawgroup.comAG Bonta sued a city for the same pattern as Tiburon's: sharing data after the state's 2023 compliance bulletin.
oag.ca.govA crowdsourced map of Flock and other ALPR cameras. Find the ones near you and add the ones you spot.
deflock.meCheck whether your license plate appears in Flock audit logs.
haveibeenflocked.comAnother national Flock camera map and organizing resource.
banishbigbrother.comThe Electronic Frontier Foundation. The lead investigators and litigators on Flock abuses.
eff.orgCo-counsel on Lagleva and SIREN. Tracking SB 34 compliance statewide.
aclunorcal.orgLitigating Fourth Amendment challenges to warrantless ALPR surveillance.
ij.orgThe Ark’s Tiburon and Belvedere investigation is featured above. Here is the wider national story it sits inside.