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Flock Safety Contract Extension

At a glance

  • What: The City Manager asked Council on May 7, 2026 to approve a Master Services Agreement with Flock Safety adding drone, fixed camera and investigative software services and renewing license plate readers. A related Peace and Justice Commission item asked Council to cancel all Flock Safety contracts over the vendor's data sharing with immigration authorities.
  • Where it stands: Council did not approve the full agreement. It extended the existing license plate reader contract 12 months for up to 200,000 dollars, set conditions for the extension, and asked the City Manager to start an RFP process. No action was taken on the cancellation item.
  • Next: Contract extension negotiation, an efficacy and compliance assessment due to Council at least 30 days before the extension ends, and an RFP process with the Police Accountability Board. The related policies are tracked in Surveillance Use Policy Approvals.

Detail

  • Staff proposal (Item 1a, continued from March 24, 2026; contact Jennifer Louis, Police): amend the Flock Safety contract to add Drone as First Responder for three years, not to exceed 750,000 dollars; add Condor PTZ fixed cameras for four years, not to exceed 310,000 dollars, with a three-year option for a total not to exceed 600,000 dollars; add Flock Nova investigative software for one year, not to exceed 75,000 dollars, funded by the Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program grant accepted July 29, 2025; and renew license plate readers for two years, not to exceed 330,000 dollars, with a two-year option for a total not to exceed 660,000 dollars.
  • Main motion (Blackaby/Humbert): do not execute the full Master Services Agreement; extend the current license plate reader contract 12 months for up to 200,000 dollars; negotiate using the terms in the Humbert and Blackaby supplemental material first submitted March 24, and explore a penalty of 290,000 dollars per violation; refer to the City Manager an RFP process, with the Police Accountability Board and the Police Department, for each MSA component and their integration; adopt Mayor Ishii's supplemental items 1 to 6, 8 and 9; include Lunaparra's amendments (a drone-use limit and a license plate reader efficacy and compliance assessment presented 30 days before the extension ends); and take no action on Item 1b.
  • Votes: portions 1, 5, 6 and 7 carried 8-1 (Noes: Bartlett); portions 2, 3 and 4 carried 5-4 (Ayes: Kesarwani, Taplin, O'Keefe, Blackaby, Humbert; Noes: Bartlett, Tregub, Lunaparra, Ishii). Resolution No. 72,254-N.S. was adopted as amended, removing the MSA and related contract authority and revising paragraph 8 to authorize the 12-month license plate reader extension for up to 200,000 dollars.
  • Public input: 156 speakers and roughly 360 written communications, including letters from Flock Group, Inc., the Police Accountability Board, the ACLU NorCal, Secure Justice, SafeBears Inc. and Visit Berkeley, and hundreds of form letters. The minutes do not record positions.
  • Item 1b (Peace and Justice Commission, continued from April 21, 2026): cancel the Flock Safety contracts for public surveillance images and video footage. Resolved by the Item 1a action (no action on 1b).

Sources

Log

2026-05-07 - City Council (special)

Full Flock Safety Master Services Agreement not approved; 12-month license plate reader extension up to 200,000 dollars authorized through Resolution No. 72,254-N.S.; RFP process referred to the City Manager; no action on the cancellation item.