JimmieJoe / KC6YRU

On September 10, 2026, I filed a California Public Records Act request of the City of Visalia, and the Visalia Police Department. On October 5, I got my response.

A lot to digest there, but let’s start with “5. The Department’s case/incident number is withheld.” A lot of verbiage to deny giving me the case numbers associated with each incident that was allegedly solved with the use of the Flock ALPR system.

They’re also saying they don’t have to release “arrest and incident information” that is more than a year old, and that “much” of my requested information predates that by “many months”, but they are giving it to me (minus what they decided to withhold) “in the interest of transparency”.

They tell me how generous they were being by including information that was more than a year old, citing a court case that they claim means they didn’t have to.

Visalia, I hate to say it, but “transparency” went out the window a long time ago. (Encrypting police radio transmissions and removing a data field on the Flock transparency page was just the beginning.)

Other information gleaned from the “response” –

From January 1, 2025 through May 29, 2026, there were 123 incidents solved which were attributed to Flock ALPR use by the Visalia Police Department.

To justify mass surveillance, proponents of ALPR systems often talk about two types of incidents: missing persons, and stolen cars. In Visalia’s record, there are no cases of missing persons found using the Flock system. Out of 123 incidents that were attributed to the Flock system, only 45 are stolen vehicles.

Six were violent crimes – assault with a deadly weapon, armed robbery, and a home invasion.

The rest of the cases “solved” by Flock ALPR data are not classified as violent crimes.

I had asked for location information, as well. Either addresses of incidents, or the hundred block and street name. They refused to provide that, stating the “existing” data only listed VPD “area” zones, and they didn’t have to provide the address or location information more detailed than that.

In the time period covered by the data released, Flock ALPR cameras took more than 5,950,000 images of license plates. Perhaps many more. The “transparency” page lists an average monthly “unique plate reads” of more than 300,000 every 30 days. Multiply that by the 17 months of data released, and the total number surveillance images is staggering.

And, at $3,000 a year per camera, expensive. (The cameras are not bought by and owned by Visalia. They are a subscription. The cameras and related equipment remain the property of Flock.)

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