18 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY SEPTEMBER 10-16, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com Watch and Wait California kills bill regulating Flock cameras even as public rage grows. By Khari Johnson FORUM Amid a growing nationwide backlash against licenseplate cameras, California, for the fifth year running, failed to enact regulations on the technology. A bill in the Legislature would have strengthened privacy protections on how license plate data is collected and shared. It also would have guarded against misuse of automated license plate readers by law enforcement officers. But after clearing the state senate, the bill was stopped in the Assembly by majority leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry on Aug. 31. All the bills California lawmakers have proposed since 2022 to reform or update regulations on license plate tracking by law enforcement agencies have failed to pass or become law. A similar bill passed last year but was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. “It’s a really disappointing outcome at a time when there is bipartisan concern about this mass surveillance tool,” UC Berkeley Center for Law & Technology codirector Catherine Crump told CalMatters. Lawmakers pushing for more regulation of the readers point to police misuse of the data they collect, including illegally using it to help federal immigration enforcers and stalking people. But law enforcement agencies say many of the proposed regulations would cripple a tool they say has helped solve a wide range of crimes. “We were concerned that this bill was going to limit the utility of ALPR data to solve crimes, find missing persons, exonerate innocent individuals, and so the fact that it did not pass, we’re glad for that,” California State Sheriff’s Association legislative director Cory Salzillo told CalMatters. Failure to pass the bill or even bring it up for a final vote comes at a time when opposition to license plate readers is growing in and beyond California. Nationwide, more than 200 cities or law enforcement agencies ended license plate reader contracts in August, more than any other month since 2021, according to Secure Justice. License plate readers use cameras and artificial intelligence to log the plate numbers of passing cars. The readers are joined into networks used by law enforcement and information from them can be shared locally or nationwide. More than 230 California police or sheriff’s departments currently use license plate readers, according to bill author Senator Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside. Cervantes’ Senate Bill 1013 would have restricted state law enforcement agencies to using license plate data only for locating criminal suspects or missing people, would have made police take privacy and cybersecurity training, would have restricted sharing with national databases by default, and would have required the attorney general’s office carry out random audits of license plate reader activity for misuse. Had the bill come up for a vote, it still might have died, given support for the readers as tools of law and order. Nearly 40 law enforcement agencies and police unions opposed the bill. Khari Johnson covers tech at CalMatters, where this article first appeared. OPINION “There is bipartisan concern about this surveillance tool.” WARNING: 1-800-523-3157 09-26 Crude oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, and other petroleum products can expose you to chemicals including toluene and benzene, which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. These exposures can occur in and around oil fields, refineries, chemical plants, transport and storage operations, such as pipelines, marine terminals, tank trucks, and other facilities and equipment listed here: The foregoing warning is provided pursuant to Proposition 65. This law requires the Governor of California to publish a list of chemicals “known to the State to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.” This list is compiled in accordance with a procedure established by the Proposition, and can be obtained from the California Environmental Protection Agency. Proposition 65 requires that clear and reasonable warnings be given to persons exposed to the listed chemicals in certain situations. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov/petroleum or call: https://www.wspa.org/proposition-65-notice-information/ LET’S CONTINUE TO STAND WITH OUR YOUTH TO PUSH TOWARDS A HEALTHIER FUTURE. FOR THE FIFTH YEAR IN A ROW, TEEN USE OF MOST SUBSTANCES CONTINUES TO HOVER AROUND LOW MARK REACHED IN 2021. MONITORING THE FUTURE SURVEY 2025 PREVENTION•EDUCATION TREATMENT•RECOVERY WWW.SUNSTREETCENTERS.ORG
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