San Diego’s roughly 500 Flock Safety cameras were approved to investigate crimes and collect evidence from public spaces. The controversy now threatening the program’s existence involves the department using that same network to search the movements of one of its own officers and a woman he was accused of victimizing. Similar debates over Flock Problem deployments have emerged in other cities grappling with the limits of automated surveillance.
Internal Affairs investigators ran license-plate searches to determine whether vehicles belonging to Officer Miguel Gonzalez and a domestic-violence victim had been near one another. The searches returned no usable information. Gonzalez admitted having sex with the woman and is no longer with the department.
What the Department Says It Was Allowed to Do
SDPD argues the searches fell within existing policy governing official investigations.
Spokesperson Ashley Nicholes said, “The department does not use ALPR to routinely monitor employees or the public or conduct phishing expeditions,” and that policy permits searches tied to official investigations, including specific misconduct allegations.
Internal Affairs has used Flock in six administrative investigations total. Three searches produced nothing relevant. Two corroborated officers’ accounts, and one substantiated misconduct that led to discipline, according to Nicholes.
The Union Draws a Different Line
Applying the cameras to noncriminal administrative cases was not what the San Diego Police Officers Association expected when it agreed to the technology.
The union said it did not anticipate the system being used in cases that could expose officers to discipline, and asked that such use stop. It also requested a transparent audit. Critics note a broader pattern of government tools secretly tracking users in ways that exceed their original mandates.
SDPD disputed that interpretation, saying the union had agreed to the technology before it was activated in late 2023. The union later stated the city met its demands, though the specific terms of that agreement remain unclear from available reporting.
A Former Supporter Reverses Course
Councilmember Raul Campillo was among the program’s backers before this case changed his position.
After learning how the system was used in this investigation, Campillo called for an immediate suspension and a formal review.
I am demanding that the program be immediately suspended and an audit be conducted of its use within our Police Department to understand the extent which it has been misused.
Raul Campillo, San Diego City Councilmember, via NBC San Diego
The Council Vote That Decides What Comes Next
The full City Council must still confirm whether to end the Flock contract, and no final vote date has been publicly confirmed.
A city committee considered an agenda item seeking to terminate the Flock-related subcontract, but official minutes confirming that vote were not available at publication. Campillo’s withdrawal of support may strengthen any council majority seeking termination, though the outcome remains unresolved.
A Neighboring City Considers a Middle Path
La Mesa is reviewing its own Flock program and weighing stricter oversight requirements rather than outright termination.
Officials there are considering requiring outside agencies to sign data-use agreements, state the reason for each search, and confirm it serves a law-enforcement purpose under city code. That approach gives the San Diego council a reference point: a framework that adds accountability without ending the program outright. Concerns about government use of a surveillance app to monitor individuals have made such oversight requirements increasingly relevant across jurisdictions.
Whether San Diego follows a similar path, suspends the contract pending an audit, or cancels it outright remains unresolved. The deciding vote has not yet taken place.
