Oxnard Police Suspend Flock After 'National Lookup' Feature Enabled Without Authorization

The Oxnard Police Department suspended its use of Flock Safety automated license plate readers in February 2026 after discovering that the vendor had enabled a "National Lookup" feature on the department's network without explicit authorization from the city.

The feature, which allows law enforcement agencies in other states and at the federal level to query Oxnard's ALPR database, was found to have been active for an undetermined period. Oxnard officials said they had never agreed to enable the feature and first learned of its activation through a statewide privacy audit coordinated by the California Attorney General's office.

"We did not authorize this. Period," said Police Chief Jason Benites at a city council briefing. "Our expectation was that our data was being used locally for local public safety purposes."

Flock Safety acknowledged the issue, stating that the feature had been enabled as part of a system update and that the company had since disabled it for all California agencies in March 2025 following similar complaints from other departments. The company said it had also implemented new consent requirements so agencies must explicitly opt in before any data sharing features are activated.

Ventura County Sheriff's Office, neighboring Oxnard, similarly tightened its data sharing controls following the same audit.

The Oxnard City Council voted to suspend the contract pending an independent review of all data that was shared during the unauthorized period. California SB 34 requires agencies to maintain detailed access logs, and city attorneys said they were reviewing whether any of the unauthorized access could trigger civil liability.

The episode added momentum to proposed California legislation that would require affirmative opt-in consent -- with city council approval -- before any ALPR data sharing features can be enabled.