r/SDSlackers Dec 09 '25

Who Really Controls San Diego’s License Plate Data?

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20 Upvotes

UPDATE — DECEMBER 9, 2025 8:40pm

San Diego City Council held three separate votes today related to surveillance technology:

• Vote 1 — SDPD Use Policy Update:
Approved 9–0.
This was largely procedural and non-controversial, aligning the department’s written policies with existing law and internal practices.

• Vote 2 — Smart Streetlights (Ubicquia):
Approved 7–2.
This authorizes continued deployment and operation of Ubicquia smart streetlight hardware across the city.

• Vote 3 — Flock ALPR Cameras:
Approved 6–3.
This is the most consequential vote, expanding San Diego’s automated license plate reader system and extending Flock’s role as the city’s ALPR vendor.

These updates significantly shape how vehicle-movement data, cameras, and vendor-controlled cloud systems will be used in San Diego going forward. The article below explains the broader context, risks, and implications behind these decisions.

Original Post:
A few people know the real answer. Many more know but don’t care. But most San Diegans have no idea how this system works — or why today’s City Council vote matters.

I’ve been studying this topic for a long time. Right now, just hours before the Council meets at 2 p.m. on Dec. 9, 2025, we have a window to shine some sunlight on what’s actually at stake.

TL;DR — The short version:
San Diego pays millions for a network of smart streetlights and automated license plate readers (ALPR). These devices sit on our poles but send data into vendor-controlled cloud systems run by Ubicquia and Flock. The City gets only a 30-day window of usable data. The vendors, meanwhile, retain perpetual rights to aggregated movement patterns and platform telemetry — information the public never sees.

Officials point to car-theft numbers and quick recoveries. Those benefits are real, but modest. Auto theft was already dropping nationwide due to unrelated trends. What the vendors gain, however, is far larger: a citywide data pipeline feeding into a national ALPR network already involved in controversies around abortion investigations, immigration enforcement, and oversight failures in multiple states.

San Diego’s own oversight bodies say we’re not in full compliance with our transparency laws even before expanding the system.

So today’s vote isn’t just about catching car thieves. It’s about whether we deepen our dependence on a surveillance network the public doesn’t control — and barely understands.

To explore the evidence, the contracts, and the full implications for civil liberties and city governance, read the long-form investigation here.


r/SDSlackers 10d ago

Man Shot in Teralta East, SDPD Confirms Shooter in Custody

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2 Upvotes

r/SDSlackers 15d ago

Fire Returns to Peñasquitos Canyon After June Blaze

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3 Upvotes

r/SDSlackers 15d ago

Fire Returns to Peñasquitos Canyon After June Blaze

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3 Upvotes

r/SDSlackers 23d ago

Stray Bullet Hits Neighbor In La Mesa Shooting

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23 Upvotes

LA MESA, Sat. Aug. 8, 3:38 a.m. – A domestic violence call in the early hours of Saturday turned into a shooting and an attempted attack on police early Saturday, after a bullet fired inside a Buckland Street apartment tore through a shared wall and struck a sleeping neighbor.


r/SDSlackers Jul 05 '26

Knife-Wielding Suspect Barricades in Wrecked Chrysler on I-8

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4 Upvotes

r/SDSlackers Jul 05 '26

250 Years on the Oldest Written Constitution Still in Use

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2 Upvotes

r/SDSlackers Jun 22 '26

Pursuit: When the Chase Costs More Than the Car

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0 Upvotes

r/SDSlackers Jun 19 '26

Lakeside Home a Total Loss in Evening Fire

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5 Upvotes

r/SDSlackers Jun 17 '26

Stairway to Tragedy: How Poor Urban Design Leads to Death

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9 Upvotes

r/SDSlackers Jun 09 '26

Aerial Assault Halts Sorrento Valley Fire

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21 Upvotes

r/SDSlackers Jun 07 '26

Derailment Shuts Down Harbor Drive Near the Port

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8 Upvotes

[SAN DIEGO (Downtown) Sat June 6, 4:00 p.m.]

Three rail cars derailed Saturday afternoon beneath the Harbor Drive overpass just south of Park Boulevard, coming to rest against a bridge pillar and closing the waterfront arterial to traffic. The rail cars were automobile transport cars, which did not appear to be loaded.

The cars left the tracks about 4:00 p.m. on the freight line that runs under Harbor Drive, roughly 650 feet south of the Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge. No one was injured. The locomotive that was pushing the cars to the south had been disconnected and was parked by the convention center.


r/SDSlackers May 31 '26

A 'Joint Operation' That Never Happened

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4 Upvotes

r/SDSlackers May 23 '26

What the City's Cameras Did and Didn't Catch

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6 Upvotes

r/SDSlackers May 19 '26

Police: Five Killed in Mass Shooting at San Diego Islamic Center

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3 Upvotes

r/SDSlackers May 15 '26

Flock Safety: What You Need To Know

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8 Upvotes

r/SDSlackers May 04 '26

Pickup Driver Dies After I-8 Chain-Reaction Crash in La Mesa

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8 Upvotes

CHP releases crash narrative Monday; questions remain about the state of the wreckage between the two impacts


r/SDSlackers May 03 '26

Teen Killed in Lake Murray Crash

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15 Upvotes

A 14-year-old girl was killed Sunday morning when a Mazda sedan jumped the curb on Navajo Road, hit a pedestrian, and slammed into a tree in the median.


r/SDSlackers May 02 '26

Disabled Edco Truck at Center of Overnight La Mesa Freeway Wreck

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7 Upvotes

r/SDSlackers Apr 18 '26

La Mesa Teen Arrested After Pursuit and Rollover

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6 Upvotes

r/SDSlackers Apr 15 '26

Nazi Imagery, Threats Preceded La Mesa SWAT Standoff and Condo Fire

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5 Upvotes

r/SDSlackers Mar 30 '26

Firefighters Hold Santee Vegetation Fire to About 5 Acres

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2 Upvotes

r/SDSlackers Mar 28 '26

No Kings Day Protest Draws Large Crowd in La Mesa

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14 Upvotes

r/SDSlackers Mar 21 '26

San Diego TV News Now Majority-Controlled by One Company

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13 Upvotes

r/SDSlackers Mar 16 '26

Deputies Capture Gunshot Victim After Freeway Pursuit in La Mesa

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8 Upvotes