Understanding Auto Surveillance Cameras
Sixteen automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras surround the City of Sonoma, monitoring the vehicles that pass through the city. Installed in 2023, they now play a central role in solving serious crimes, many – if not most – of which are committed not by people who live here, but by people who travel to Sonoma for ill intentions like robbery, theft and worse.
Readers may remember the home invasion that took place on Wood Valley Road in September of 2025. Three residents, including two elderly home owners, were tied up by armed thieves. One resident was beaten, the house was robbed and their car was stolen. It was a frightening crime, but it was quickly solved. The perpetrators – one from Santa Rosa, the other from Lake County – were caught within hours because the stolen car’s license plates were recorded by ALPR cameras.
That crime underscores the 2023 decision made by Sonoma Police Chief Brandon Cutting, to recommend that the Sonoma City Council approve the cost and installation of the Flock ALPR camera system now in place. But the issue of improper access has recently been in the news. The City of Mountain View uses the Flock system, and access to some of the collected data was improperly granted to the federal government. That city’s system has been disabled until it can be determined exactly what happened, how, and what steps must be taken to prevent it happening again…