Vallejo oversight committee recommends using sales tax funds for Flock license plate readers

VALLEJO – Vallejo’s Measure P Oversight Committee recommended spending more than $300,000 in city sales tax revenue on Flock Safety license plate reader technology, but recommended against using it to fund police body and dash cameras.

The recommendations came during a flurry of more than $10 million in funding requests to the committee, as Vallejo faces a growing budget deficit which threatens the funding for various programs within the next year.

Measure P is a tax passed by Vallejo voters in November 2022 to address blight, illegal dumping, homelessness and roads and provide fire and police protection and keep public spaces clean. The committee can recommend for or against using the revenue generated – about $19 million this year – for current and upcoming expenses, although the City Council has the final say on how to spend those dollars.

The most controversial item of the evening was the police department’s request for up to $302,500 to use Flock Safety’s automated license plate reading technology during the next fiscal year. 

Police officials said the department has only 39 sworn officers actively working on patrol duty, of the 77 sworn in total, and relies on Flock’s technology to help investigate incidents and identify people and vehicles suspected of being connected to criminal investigations. 

The city has for years faced criticism over working with Flock Safety due to growing concerns over how the company stores and secures its data. Vallejo police were found to have previously shared license plate data with agencies outside of California, in apparent violation of the law. 

The committee unanimously voted Monday to recommend approving this request, despite multiple residents asking to reject it. Several said the committee had the opportunity to reject using public funds for police surveillance technology.

Resident Jose Carrizales pointed out that Flock Safety’s attorney was present at the meeting but did not provide data about the efficacy of its technology. He said  that multiple cities have ended contracts with the company, including several in Santa Clara County, due to its data being used for immigration enforcement.

“I want to know what I’m paying for,” he said. “They chose not to inform this committee. Just because they say so, we’re supposed to trust.”

However, the committee unanimously recommended against using $480,000 in Measure P funds on the city’s contract with Axon Inc., which provides body and vehicle cameras and the Police Department’s digital evidence management system. The department said the contract is an important part of its ongoing reform work as it helps improve transparency and garner community engagement and trust. 

The contract in 2025-26 was covered by special revenue funds which are running out, according to city staff. The city signed a five-year agreement with Axon but has, within the last two years, needed to seek out funds to cover the full duration of the contract.

Some residents also opposed this request, comparing Axon’s influence to Flock as its products can be used for new measures of surveillance in policing. 

A resident who identified themselves as RJ said that Axon’s technology creates a feeling of never-ending surveillance, and noted that the for-profit company continues to research using AI facial recognition software. “Technology like body cameras, in-car cameras and Tasers offer no guarantees of better behavior to the public and can be misused,” they said.

Resident Eric McGovern said that he was concerned about the amount of money being requested for use with Measure P funds in one night.

“The items for the police in particular are $1.8 million, if all [are] accepted tonight,” he said. “There are a lot of priorities and there is not necessarily enough money to fund all of them.”

Committee chair Jackie Jones said he thought that if this program is valuable to the city, the City Council can find a way to cover it using the general fund. 

“I understand the city is out almost $30 million, and I think a lot of stuff is being pushed over onto Measure P,” Jones said, referring to what is currently a nearly $29 million deficit for 2026-27.

“There should be some cuts in the city,” he said. “We are making some very poor decisions with General Fund monies. If we can’t afford some things, then we can’t afford them.”

Assistant City Manager Nalungo Conley said all of these items qualify for Measure P funding, but simply had not been brought to the committee earlier in the year as it can be a lengthy process.

“We are looking at a point where critical services cannot fully be funded under the general fund,” Conley said. “It is a hard choice for the committee to listen to all of these items, but this is where we’re at. There are still hard choices that the council will have to make about critical services. It does not rest on this committee to make those choices, though.”

The committee also voted unanimously to recommend against spending $250,000 on hiring Danny Murphy Consulting LLC as full-time independent evaluator for the city’s police reform efforts. The contract is part of the city’s settlement agreement with the California Department of Justice and was previously covered under a mid-year adjustment in 2025-26.