Coachella Valley residents remain vocal about Flock Cameras

THOUSAND PALMS, Calif. (KESQ) — "Clear evidence. Safer Communities. Privacy first." This is the motto posted front and center of Flock Safety's website.

Over 700 'Flock' cameras have been installed across the Coachella Valley in eight of nine major cities over the last five years.

While police agencies state the system is strictly used to scan license plates to help identify criminal suspects after crimes occur, local critics argue the extensive network amounts to an invasion of personal privacy.

Capt. Andy Mills of the Palm Springs Police Department addressed questions regarding how law enforcement handles the information collected by the license plate scanners. Mills emphasized that the department operates under specific guidelines regarding data retention and regional coordination.

News Channel 3 asked the peoples questions to hold officials accountable.

to our understanding of knowledge all the data that we captured is deleted every 30 days,” Mills said.

He also highlighted the necessity of shared technology across municipal boundaries, stating, “Only government agencies see political jurisdictions. Criminals don't.”

Now, to learn more about the peoples perspective, News Channel 3 spoke with multiple residents and across the board, they exclaimed a dislike for these cameras.

“The issue with Flock cameras is that it's about crime. And to me, crime is kind of an economic reality that's caused by poverty in some cases,” Cathedral City resident Nicolai Longo said. “We need to be proactive in preventing crime by, like I said, building better communities and ensuring that people have the economic opportunity to support themselves and not have to move into crime.”