On Tuesday night, the Red Bluff City Council will have a busy evening on in its meeting Tuesday night that also lands on election day . The first item on the council’s agenda is focused around the city’s automated license plate reader, or ALPR, camera program. Options included on the agenda for the council’s vote include potentially terminating the city’s current contract for the cameras.
The Red Bluff City Council meets at 5:30 p.m. in the council chambers at 555 Washington St.
Recently, the topic of the cameras has drawn public comment and engagement at several meetings . At the Red Bluff Council’s Oct. 20 meeting , members of the public who spoke were largely, but not unanimously, opposed to or concerned about the use of the cameras.
Two councilmembers, Cassie Pope and Pat Hurton, spoke about the system, with concerns about data-sharing, transparency, the evolution of the technology, and government overreach.
Police Chief Quintan Ortega explained Red Bluff has been using ALPR technology since 2016, and said there are policies and procedures in place for how information is accessed. Since the cameras were installed in the city, the police chief said there have not been any reports of misuse.
This Tuesday evening, the council will return to the topic, to potentially provide direction to staff on a variety of options listed on the meeting agenda.
The council could vote to continue the existing ALPR program contract, directing staff to review and update the police department’s policy for the program.
Within that option, they could vote to continue current data sharing agreements, discontinue sharing data with outside agencies, or require outside agencies to submit formal requests for information to be reviewed by the police department.
Another option the council may pursue is to terminate the current five-year contract with Motorola Solutions – Vigilant. The agenda includes a secondary item, for the council to approve $21,455 in termination costs with this option.
The agenda also explores options for use of cameras operated by organizations outside of the city.
The council may decide to continue allowing the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office to use city right-of-ways for Flock Safety camera placement and operation, or to discontinue allowing the use of Red Bluff streets for the ALPR cameras. Councilmembers could also direct staff to find alternative arrangements for sheriff’s office cameras in Red Bluff, like moving them out of city right-of-ways, establishing a formal agreement for placement and other elements, or to continue operations with city privacy, transparency and reporting requirements.
Tehama County Sheriff Dave Kain has fielded concerns about the cameras, while also receiving support from some residents. In September, he spoke at a meeting of the Tehama County Patriots on the issue, and Kain told the county supervisors on Oct. 27, he had heard from the public supporting the use of the cameras in several recent public safety forums he hosted.
Other jurisdictions in the region have been deep in discussions about Flock cameras and other ALPR systems as well, with some considering different options.
In Chico, the council directed the city attorney to review and rewrite the police department’s policy on automatic license plate readers at a Sept. 21 meeting . The direction came after an internal audit of the system, and the department’s alleged sharing of data with federal agencies, in violation of state senate bills.
The Chico council also voted to spend $6,000 a year for further audits from Motorola, though some councilmembers objected to the additional spending and suggested establishing a citizen oversight committee to provide recommendations for system safeguards.
Shasta County supervisors discussed their Flock contract at their Oct. 27 meeting , and asked the sheriff to bring back a presentation on the use of the cameras at a future meeting this month, at which point they may decide to terminate the contract.
In Anderson, the city council discussed ALPR cameras at two separate consecutive meetings, but ultimately did not take action on the issue .
When the Red Bluff City Council concludes the item about ALPR cameras on Tuesday evening, they will move on to review the city’s purchasing policy. This topic came about in direct relation to the license plate camera reader discussion, as Councilmember Pope said at the Oct. 20 meeting, the city’s ALPR contract was renewed on the July 20 consent agenda as a line item and thus did not come before the board as a regular agenda item with possible actions and discussion.
To balance efficiency with transparency, the staff report stated the current policy “requires all purchases over $2,000 to be reported to the City Council in the monthly open market purchases report. Council preapproval is also required for unbudgeted purchases and purchases exceeding $200,000.”
If it falls within budget, the staff report stated department heads may enter into contracts of up to $60,000.
Should the threshold be set too low, the staff report warned operational efficiency could suffer and staff could face delays while waiting for council action.
The council meeting is open to the public and will include opportunities to provide public comment. For those unable to attend in-person, options to listen or watch live can be found on the meeting agenda at cityofredbluff.legistar.com .