Where San Francisco candidates stand on Flock cameras
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San Francisco's controversial Flock cameras have become a dividing line in local races, with candidates split over whether the city should keep the surveillance technology or get rid of it altogether.
Why it matters: The city's roughly 400 automated license plate readers help police investigate crimes, but recent findings showing improper access to the data by outside agencies has fueled concerns about privacy and immigration enforcement.
- An SFPD audit from June revealed federal and out-of-state agencies had searched the city's license plate data hundreds of times, prompting Mayor Daniel Lurie to announce tighter restrictions last month, including a 30-day data retention limit.
Here's where local candidates stand on SF's Flock use.
Congressional District 11: In the race to succeed Nancy Pelosi in Congress, Connie Chan wants to end federal funding for Flock, while Scott Wiener supports license plate readers with privacy safeguards but hasn't taken a position on renewing the city's contract, per the Standard.
District 2: Incumbent Stephen Sherrill supports keeping the cameras, citing their usefulness in criminal investigations, but says he would oppose their use if civil liberties are compromised.
District 6: Incumbent Matt Dorsey supports renewing the city's Flock contract and expanding license plate readers, arguing they're effective crime-fighting tools.
- He's open to additional safeguards against misuse, per the SF Standard. Alex Behrend supports alternative approaches to policing, including more community-led programs, but has not outlined a specific position on Flock.
District 4: Incumbent Alan Wong's campaign platform emphasizes public safety and protecting personal information from ICE. He supports using technology to help police fight crime but has not specified a stance on Flock.
- Jeremy Greco is calling for more frequent surveillance audits of Flock but has not explicitly called for eliminating them.
- Albert Chow supports the use of cameras for deterring crime and providing evidence that can be used in prosecuting theft, per his campaign website.
District 8: Three candidates oppose the city's use of Flock.
- Gary McCoy wants to terminate the contract within his first 90 days and require SFPD to delete all city data.
- Darshini Patel opposes renewing the contract and Michael Nguyen opposes the cameras over civil liberties concerns, per Mission Local.
District 10: Candidates are more divided.
- Dion-Jay Brookter opposes expanding surveillance, while J.R. Eppler wants independent reviews before expansion and favors moving on from Flock.
- Theo Ellington supports continued use with strict privacy safeguards and restrictions on federal immigration access.
The bottom line: The disagreement isn't only about the cameras' effectiveness in solving crimes, but whether stronger safeguards are enough to address concerns about surveillance, misuse and data sharing.