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Approve a $161,546 two-year service agreement with Flock Group, Inc. for the installation and leased operation of 23 Flock Safety cameras in the Homeacres neighborhood in Southeast Vallejo; Authorize the County Administrator to execute the agreement and any subsequent amendments within budgeted appropriations; Authorize the Sheriff or his designee to execute amendments which are technical or administrative in nature; and Approve an Appropriation Transfer Request of $87,457 from the Homeacres Loan Program to fund the first year of the agreement (4/5 vote required)
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Published Notice Required? Yes ____ No _X _
Public Hearing Required? Yes ____ No _X _
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Department of Resource Management and the Sheriff’s Office recommend that the Board of Supervisors:
1. Approve a $161,546 two-year agreement with Flock Group, Inc. for the installation and leased operation of 23 Flock Safety cameras in the Homeacres neighborhood in Southeast Vallejo;
2. Authorize the County Administrator to execute the agreement and any subsequent amendments within budgeted appropriations;
3. Authorize the Sheriff or his designee to execute amendments which are technical or administrative in nature; and
4. Approve an Appropriation Transfer Request (ATR) of $87,457 from the Homeacres Loan Program to fund the first year of the agreement (4/5 vote required).
SUMMARY:
Based on community response to various outreach efforts, the Department of Resource Management and Sheriff’s Office propose a cooperative effort to pilot the use of 23 Flock Group, Inc. safety cameras in the Homeacres neighborhood for a two-year period. This safety camera system provides an automatic license plate reading (ALPR) system with Criminal Justice Information Services compliant cloud-based hosting, unlimited user licenses, ongoing software enhancements, camera setup, mounting, shipping, handling, and a wireless cellular connection. Use of this system compared to others is recommended since it is currently successfully used in the cities of Vallejo, Fairfield, Vacaville, and Dixon. The Solano County Sheriff’s Office also has five (5) Flock Group, Inc. safety cameras in activation with an additional seven (7) under contract in the unincorporated area. The cameras will be mounted on existing or new dedicated poles at sites selected by the Sheriff’s Office and can be either directly connected to power or use solar power. Operation of the safety cameras would be in accordance with the Solano County Sheriff’s Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) practices. The $161,546 two-year cost of the program will be paid from contingency through the Homeacres Loan Program fund.
The Department’s outreach efforts, background on the Homeacres Loan Program funding for the agreement, and additional information on data protection and use of the system by the Sheriff’s Office is provided below.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no cost to the General Fund for this program. The $161,546 two-year agreement for installation and leased operation of 23 Flock Safety cameras will be funded by the Homeacres Loan Program fund contingencies, designated for improvements to housing, infrastructure, and blight in the Homeacres area. The first-year expense totaling $87,457 is due at signing, and the balance of $74,089 will be due the second year of the agreement. Continuation of this pilot program beyond this initial 2-year agreement period will be determined at its conclusion and will require one or more additional sustainable funding sources be identified and approved.
The costs associated with preparing the agenda item are nominal and absorbed by the Department’s FY2023/24 Working Budget.
DISCUSSION:
Solano County implements a Homeacres Loan Program, funded through a contingency fund containing housing set-aside funds from the Southeast Vallejo Redevelopment Project, including revenue received from a 1998 settlement agreement, interest earned over time on those set-aside funds, and from interest payments and loan payoffs made by loan recipients on existing loans. Funding through the Homeacres Loan Program has provided housing rehabilitation and reconstruction loans, relocation grants, sewer lateral repairs, and exterior lead-based paint abatement grants to assist low- and moderate-income households. The Department of Resource Management has been exploring additional ways to utilize these funds to rehabilitate housing, develop infrastructure, and abate blight in the Homeacres community.
As part of this process, the Planning Services Division conducted outreach to area residents and conferred with the Solano County Sheriff’s Office to determine the most pressing neighborhood needs. The Department’s consultant team distributed 550 surveys to residents in the area to gauge their interest in various housing rehabilitation and safety programs. Based on responses to all outreach efforts, the proposed pilot program to install and use safety cameras received strong community support, along with a home rehabilitation loan program, which will be brought to the board at a later date.
Some key points about the Flock Group, Inc. safety camera system and the Sheriff Office’s implementation of the program include:
Data Use
The Sheriff utilizes real time alerting of “hotlist” vehicles to capture wanted criminals. Hotlist hits are required to be human verified prior to action.
Data Protection
Flock Group, Inc. does not access, share, or sell data. The data is owned by the Sheriff’s Office, who retains full control of who it is shared with and uses it for law enforcement purposes only. Data is never sold to 3rd parties and all data is retained for no more than 30 days.
To address recent American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) concerns, collected data is to be shared only upon written authorization from the Sheriff’s Office and will not be used for immigration enforcement, purposes related to gender affirming care or reproductive care, traffic enforcement, harassment or intimidation, usage based solely on protected class (i.e. race, sex, religion), or for personal use. If any misuse were detected, the Sheriff’s Office can turn off access to granted users or agencies.
Protection of Individual Privacy
The cameras use “vehicle fingerprint” technology to capture objective evidence on a vehicle such as license plates and unique vehicle markings and attachments. There is no facial recognition or information collected on people, gender, or race.
System access
All system access requires a valid reason and access actions are stored indefinitely.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board could choose to not approve the proposed agreement. This is not recommended since Flock Safety, Inc. provides an affordable, infrastructure-free automatic license plate reading camera system for municipalities and neighborhoods who want to reduce crime within a principled framework and was requested to be implemented by the Homeacres neighborhood through various outreach methods.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The Sheriff’s Department and Department of Resource Management have coordinated on this item and for funding and operation of the cameras should the Board approve the agreement. County Counsel has reviewed this item and has approved the agreement as to form.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION