San Mateo Police Department is one of five agencies that have regained access to Menlo Park's license plate reader network under stricter requirements, according to the Redwood City Pulse.
Menlo Park revoked all existing data-sharing agreements on July 9 after a June audit uncovered roughly 700 improper searches of its automated license plate reader (ALPR) system by federal agencies working through the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, the Redwood City Pulse reported Thursday. California law prohibits local police departments from sharing ALPR data with federal or out-of-state law enforcement.
The five agencies now approved are the police departments of East Palo Alto, San Mateo and South San Francisco, plus the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office and the San Diego County District Attorney's Office. The department previously shared its data with 242 California agencies.
To regain access, each agency must sign a city-specific agreement affirming compliance with California law and commit to periodic internal audits of its ALPR use. Menlo Park also publishes its ALPR policies and transparency information online.
"This is not a question of 'old vs. new,'" Menlo Park police spokesperson Nicole Acker told the Pulse. "The manner of sharing within the existing Flock database environment also requires that agencies comply with law and policy."
Second lapse in a year
The July revocation followed a pattern. In August 2025, Menlo Park had mistakenly granted ALPR access to police departments in Houston, Texas, and a small town in Illinois. The June 2026 audit found that the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center conducted 214,147 searches of Menlo Park's data since gaining access in February 2025. About 700 of those searches, less than 1%, did not comply with department policy. They involved federal agencies investigating violent crimes, fugitives, human trafficking and crimes against children. Acker said the audit found no searches related to immigration enforcement.
San Mateo PD's camera footprint
San Mateo PD operates 66 ALPR cameras, the largest municipal deployment in San Mateo County, according to a grand jury report released Monday, Aug. 3. The county has more than 582 ALPR cameras total. The grand jury specifically characterized San Mateo PD's ALPR audit practices as “weak” and noted that its audits were not published, while finding that the department's publicly posted ALPR policy was current.
Regional fallout
San Mateo PD's re-approval comes as neighboring cities grapple with similar problems. Redwood City Police Chief Kristina Bell disclosed earlier in August that improper settings allowed at least 99 unauthorized searches of that city's Flock network. Palo Alto's system was searched by thousands of out-of-state agencies after the city unknowingly opted into a nationwide sharing database.
At the Tuesday, Aug. 25 Menlo Park City Council meeting, several speakers urged officials to consider ending the city's contract with Flock Safety, the private company that operates the cameras. Nationally, at least 56 law enforcement agencies have canceled Flock contracts amid privacy concerns, according to an Aug. 20 report in The Guardian.
San Mateo County Sheriff Ken Binder and the San Mateo City Council are among the officials required to respond to the grand jury's findings and recommendations. Under state law, governing bodies generally have 90 days to respond, while elected county officers or agency heads have 60 days for matters under their control.
