Vallejo leaders call for ‘guardrails’ before purchasing gunshot detection tech

VALLEJO – The Vallejo City Council balked at approving a contract to purchase controversial gunshot detection technology, flagging concerns about the company providing the technology and the privacy of the data it collects.

The city council on Tuesday unanimously rejected a $210,000 contract to use Flock Safety’s Raven gunshot detection technology for 18 months, with councilmembers asking to first get a follow up from city staff to craft a policy with clear “guardrails” for how any data will be stored and used. Flock Safety is one of the country’s largest companies producing automated license plate readers, which the Vallejo Police Department already uses.

Vallejo police have also been using the gunshot detection tech free for a one-year beta test. The new contract with Flock was previously passed by the city’s Surveillance Advisory Board, which recommended the technology’s use despite concerns over its efficacy. 

Police Capt. Jerome Bautista told the council Tuesday that the technology helps officers identify the origin point of detected gunshots. However, he said that there may be discrepancy between Raven gunshot alerts and reported shots-fired incidents.

Mayor Andrea Sorce called the item as presented a “huge missed opportunity,” saying there was not enough work done by Flock to justify using the technology. She said she found it “offensive” that Flock did not follow the council’s directive to get monthly updates on the Raven beta test, despite the surveillance board discussing the matter multiple times. 

Sorce also criticized the report presented by Flock and the police department for largely relying on "anecdotes,” saying it did not fully address whether the technology works properly in Vallejo.

“Disappointed isn’t a strong enough word,” Sorce said. “We actually let the beta test lapse before bringing it back, without doing any of the work the council said was going to be done.”

Sorce said she also couldn’t vote to invest in the company’s technology without assurance of security, pointing out recent headlines involving Flock’s role in sharing private data with federal agencies. Despite state laws preventing data from being shared with those agencies, “Flock has been in the news a lot recently for just violating those laws,”  she said. 

Flock in August said it would pause cooperation with federal law enforcement, after admitting that it had been running a “pilot program” with Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations, reported the Institute for Justice.

Raven’s data can also be used for training purposes, which worried Vice Mayor Peter Bregenzer. Although Flock said it would check on whether the data would be completely secure from being tampered with or accessed without the city’s approval, Bregenzer said he’s worried that the city doesn’t yet have a process in place to get notified if Flock intends to share city data with another agency. 

Bregenzer also expressed concern that Bautista had not yet audited Flock to know how the data is being used and if it has ever disclosed the data to anyone outside the city. 

“How do you know, if they just don’t notify us?” Bregenzer said. “How do you know if they’re giving information to ICE, and we just don’t know about it?”

City Attorney Veronica Nebb said more time is needed to craft language setting guardrails for use of the Raven technology. The contract and a potential use policy will need to be presented at a future council meeting. 

Council invests in buffed up security measures

The council also voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a new one-year contract for additional security services with AX9 Security, Inc., to spend up to $1.9 million. The councilmembers also asked city staff to bring back the item to a closed session meeting to negotiate an increase in security guards. Several councilmembers said they want to increase the hours that private security guards can be deployed to buff up patrols alongside the strained police department.

The city has since 2022 held a contract to spend no more than $3.75 million with Admiral Security, now AX9, for patrol guards at locations such as the marina, City Hall and the Housing Authority. The company’s guards may also cover special events, and have been deployed to additional properties such as at the navigation center when it was under construction. 

In 2024 the Measure P Oversight Committee approved using $500,000 in sales tax revenue to cover security services in high impact areas, and the City Council approved it in the 2024-25 budget. However, a side letter with Vallejo Police Officers' Association caps security at 40 hours per week for one year. 

Interim public works director Oscar Alcantar said that the program is intended to increase crime deterrence alongside police and emergency responses. Bregenzer said he thought that a contract allowing only 40 hours per week for a year is not sufficient for the city’s needs, and said he would be willing to add another 40 hours per week for about $72,000 if the city can reopen negotiations with the police union.

Councilmember Alexander Matias agreed, although he said he hopes to see more investment in ensuring that the police department is fully staffed to avoid such strain requiring supplementation in future years.

“We need to redouble our efforts. and I’d like to have at least some part of this program move forward this evening so we’re not going back to the board,” Matias said. 

Resident Anne Carr said that she was unsatisfied with the presented contract after waiting two years for a new agreement, given that it only allows for one full-time security guard.

“Why has it taken so flippin’ long to add one security guard with a contractor with a security firm that we already did business with, when we already knew the boundaries between what the guard would do and what the police would do?” Carr said. “Having the possibility of expanding the pilot program is very important.”