(This story has been updated to add comments from Port Hueneme Police Department and correct the number of searches conducted by out-of-state agencies.)
A failure in the automated license plate reader system used by nearly all Ventura County law enforcement agencies allowed hundreds of thousands of searches of their data by federal and out-of-state agencies in violation of state law.
One local law enforcement agency suspended use all together of the Flock plate reader system, others said they have altered their internal practices but will continue with Flock and the rest chose the status quo, they said Feb. 27 in their respective news releases. The breach was without their permission or knowledge, they said.
“We were disappointed” with the unauthorized data sharing, said Oxnard Police Chief Jason Benites whose agency has suspended its use of Flock’s license plate reader system.
The law enforcement agencies said a feature that turned off national searches of Flock’s automated license plate reader system was inadvertently turned on, according to news releases from local law enforcement.
A call and an email left with Flock were not immediately returned.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, which contracts police services to five cities and unincorporated areas, said it audited its system Feb. 11 and discovered out-of-state agencies accessed the sheriff’s license plate reader system just over 364,000 times.
The sheriff’s office, the largest law enforcement agency in the county, said its audit was done to confirm the data had not been released to agencies outside California. Instead, the survey found that the so-called “National Lookup,” that the sheriff’s office had opted out of in June 2023 to comply with state law, had permitted access between Feb. 19, 2025, and March 19, 2025, the sheriff’s office said.
The justification for 299 of those searches referenced immigration enforcement, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office said it has now put in place internal safeguards that include daily audits to verify the system settings and log access.
“However, public trust is equally critical,” said the news release prepared by Sheriff Jim Fryhoff. “…We are committed to maintaining that trust through transparency and our responsible use of technology.”
Oxnard Police said it turned off the national search feature of its license plate data when it began using the Flock’s plate reader system back in December 2023, the agency said in its release.
Oxnard police’s Flock system audit found that it received over 5 million queries in 2025. Of those, two were from agencies outside of California that were able to query its data without the department’s knowledge or approval, the release adds.
In May, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Police Department at Loma Linda Medical Center accessed Oxnard’s system two times.
Ventura Police said it uses 23 Flock cameras throughout the city and in early February 2026, following reports of errors with Flock involving other California agencies, initiated a 90-day audit of its system, the release says.
After learning about other Ventura County agencies’ recent data security issues, Ventura Police conducted a second audit of the past year. The survey showed that although Ventura’s settings were set to California-only access, Flock’s enabled national search function allowed out-of-state agencies to query Ventura’s data.
“While we recognize this ALPR system to be a very valuable tool that increases public safety in our community, we will always prioritize privacy compliance over operational convenience,” Ventura Police Chief David Dickey said in the agency’s news release.
The audit identified two out-of-state agencies accessed Ventura’s system through the Flock’s configuration between March 2025 and mid-September. The Ventura police’s audit showed that no federal agencies accessed or queried Ventura’s ALPR system during the same time frame, the agency’s news release says.
Ventura Police said it would continue using Flock and had altered its practices but did not specify how. Ventura decided to continue using the Flock system because the audit shows the Flock data is secure, said Cmdr. Edward Caliento.
The Simi Valley Police Department, which has 23 Flock license plate readers, learned of its Flock data breach the week of Feb. 23 and initiated an internal audit between January 2024 through February, according to a news release.
Simi Valley police said it doesn’t allow camera access to any federal agency and has no active data-sharing agreements in place with federal entities, the release says.
Most of the law enforcement agencies defended the use of the Flock system as a crucial crime-solving tool, citing multiple instances in which the plate readers helped solve cases, and expressed confidence in the company’s response.
“These systems enable us to quickly develop investigative leads that would not otherwise exist, significantly improving our ability to prevent crime, solve cases, and protect victims and the public,” the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office also said it was told by Flock that the company could not determine how the breach happened, but boiled it down to three possibilities: an administrator within its agency activated the nationwide lookup, a Flock employee did it or a system bug automatically caused the issue.
Flock technology “is an invaluable resource to solve crimes,” said Sgt. Rick Morton, a department spokesperson. “We’re confident” that Flock has resolved the breach, he added.
The Simi Valley’s audit showed two criminal case queries, the same search as Oxnard’s. The queries were not related to immigration enforcement, the release adds.
Santa Paula Police Department was also alerted of the breach from Flock and initiated an audit, according to a department news release.
“An inadvertent access occurred in 2025, allowing the Houston Police Department access” on criminal investigations, Santa Paula police said in the release
“We’re continuing to use Flock at this time,” said Police Chief Don Aguilar by phone Feb. 27. He said Flock put in safeguards and has been accountable for the breach.
Santa Paula Police has had the ability to conduct daily audits on how their data is accessed, he said.
Port Hueneme Police Department had also received information from Flock earlier in February on a possible error in access to Flock’s “National Lookup” feature, said Chief Michael Federico. He said the department was doing an audit specific to the Frock notification.
“We are still conducting that audit and information regarding that audit will be available at a later time,” Federico said.
Stacie N. Galang is news director and Yuri Nagano is metro editor of the Ventura County Star. To reach them, email stacie.galang@vcstar.com and yuri.nagano@vcstar.com or call 805-437-0222.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Flock license reader flaw opened county’s data to non-state agencies
Reporting by Stacie N. Galang and Yuri Nagano, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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