San Jose keeps Flock cameras, but only stores plate data for 30 days now

San Jose
City Council Meeting
March 10, 2026

TL;DR

• San Jose Police will delete license plate camera data after 30 days instead of one year, with new no-camera zones near reproductive health, religious, gender-affirming care, and consulate locations.
• The Council directed the City Manager to explore alternative ALPR vendors besides Flock, and banned facial recognition or biometric software from being added to the system.
• Police Department overtime gets an $8M annual cut through staff redeployment starting with the May 26 shift change, after FY 24-25 overtime exceeded budget by $16.5M.
• Q2 Focus Areas report accepted: 707 shelter units delivered (above the 705 goal), citywide cleanliness perception up 19 points since FY 23-24, and 1,444 housing units moved from entitlement to construction.
• Welch Park restrooms got a $29,998 contingency bump in District 8 after construction hit a crushed sewer line and ceiling mold.

What happened

1. License plate camera data will be deleted after 30 days, not one year
   1. The Council voted 11-0 to cut the San Jose Police Department's automated license plate reader retention period by 92%, prohibit cameras near reproductive health facilities providing abortion services, religious locations, gender-affirming care facilities, consulates, and embassies, and require multi-factor authentication plus command-staff approval for outside agency access. The Council also directed the City Manager to explore alternative vendors to Flock, banned facial recognition or biometric software from being added to the system, and required SJPD to send the Council an information memo for any unauthorized data disclosure.
   2. What this means for you: If your car passes a city ALPR camera and isn't tied to an active investigation, the image disappears after 30 days instead of staying on file for a year. Federal sharing for immigration enforcement has been deactivated by the manufacturer for all California agencies.
2. Police Department overtime gets an $8M annual cut starting May 26
   1. The Council accepted a plan to reduce SJPD overtime through staff redeployment effective with the May 26 shift change, after FY 24-25 police personal services exceeded the modified budget by approximately $16.5 million. The plan includes pulling officers off BART patrol, where San Jose is the only Bay Area department that patrols BART property even though BART has its own police force. Stricter overtime controls also kick in, including captains attending neighborhood meetings on regular time rather than overtime.
   2. What this means for you: The Psychiatric Emergency Response Team is effectively gone after the county withdrew funding, though the county returned its clinicians to the mobile crisis response team that SJPD can still call. The Mobile Crisis Assessment Team continues to operate.
3. 707 shelter units delivered, citywide cleanliness perception jumps 19 points
   1. The Council accepted the Q2 status report on its five focus areas. San Jose delivered 707 emergency interim housing units against a 705-unit goal for calendar year 2025, with Cherry Avenue adding two more units than originally forecast. Citywide cleanliness perception rose from 33% rating the city clean or very clean in Q1 of FY 23-24 to 52% in Q2 of FY 25-26, the first quarter that measure has crossed 50%. The Multifamily Housing Incentive Program, approved in December 2024, helped move 1,444 housing units from entitlement to construction.
   2. What this means for you: PERT, the Mission Street Recovery Station, and Fire Station 32 single company staffing are all affected by county and city budget pressures. CalAIM medical reimbursement is currently off track, with the city now targeting end of calendar year 2026 for the infrastructure to be in place.
4. Alameda Business Improvement District is now law
   1. The Council adopted Ordinance No. 31309 on its second reading, establishing the Alameda Business Improvement District under California's 1989 Parking and Business Improvement Area Law.
   2. What this means for you: Businesses along The Alameda corridor are now covered by a new BID, with an additional assessment to fund corridor-specific improvements and services.
5. Welch Park restrooms get $29,998 more to finish renovation
   1. The Council approved raising the construction contingency on the Welch Park Neighborhood Center restrooms renovation from 15% to 33%, bringing total contingency to $55,348. Director of Public Works Matthew Loesch told the Council the project hit a crushed sewer line and mold in the ceiling that needed abatement, both unexpected when the $169,000 project was awarded.
   2. What this means for you: this is in District 8, and the restrooms will be opened to both inside and outside the facility once work is complete.

What residents brought up

• About 100 speakers signed up on the ALPR item, splitting roughly between residents and business owners asking the Council to keep the cameras and advocates asking the Council to end the contract with Flock entirely.
• A SIREN community organizer asked the Council to end the Flock contract and adopt stronger guardrails from a community coalition letter, including requiring judicial warrants for all data searches. She raised concerns about indirect data sharing with immigration authorities through fusion centers and other California departments that share with outside agencies.
• The president of the Cadillac-Winchester Neighborhood Association, a 27-year West San Jose resident, said her neighbors are scared of gang activity and break-ins and that all CWNA residents agreed to keep the cameras in the neighborhood. She thanked SJPD and asked the Council to approve the proposal.
• A Silicon Valley DSA speaker cited Mountain View data: from August 2024 through December 2025, Mountain View Police performed just under 25,000 ALPR searches while external agencies performed over 3 million on the same system, despite regular internal audits. He urged the Council to require independent external audits if the program continues.

Also happened

• Public hearing set for March 24 at 1:30 p.m. on a franchise agreement with LS Power Grid California, LLC for electric service in public rights-of-way across Council Districts 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 10 (Resolution RES2026-58).
• Q2 Financial Reports for FY 2025-2026 deferred to March 24 at the Administration's request.
• City of San José Investment Policy annual review deferred to March 24 at the Administration's request.
• Councilmember Domingo Candelas received a retroactive excused absence from the February 12 Neighborhood Services and Education Committee meeting.
• Councilmember Peter Ortiz presented a proclamation recognizing the 28th Annual Mexica New Year Celebration hosted by Calpulli Tonalehqueh at Emma Prusch Park.

For any updates or corrections, please email steven@polisdesk.com