Inside Palm Springs’ Real-Time Surveillance Center: What Police Can See Through Flock Cameras

For many people who walked into the Palm Springs Police Department’s surveillance center Thursday, one question stood out: What exactly can police see and access through Flock cameras?

The department opened the doors to its Real-Time Surveillance Center, giving Coachella Valley residents a behind-the-scenes look at a technology many drivers pass every day — but may not fully understand.

For some residents, seeing the system firsthand helped answer questions. For others, it raised new ones about privacy, data sharing and oversight.

Inside the Palm Springs Police Department’s Real-Time Surveillance Center, residents were shown what officers can see when they access the city’s Flock camera network.

According to department officials, Flock cameras are currently positioned at about one percent of intersections across Palm Springs.

The department also currently shares Flock camera data with 25 law enforcement agencies across California.

The information collected can include vehicle license plates, vehicle characteristics and movement data. According to police, that information is stored for 30 days before being automatically deleted.

The public tours come after months of scrutiny surrounding Flock Safety, the company behind the automated license plate reader network used by Palm Springs police.

Questions about the technology have centered on privacy, how long information is retained, who can access it and whether the system could be misused.

Police acknowledge those concerns — and say safeguards are necessary.

The department says it has already ended data-sharing agreements with two agencies.

In one case, the department stopped sharing information after data was shared outside California. In another, police said the agreement was terminated over concerns that federal agents could have access to information collected through the cameras.

For Palm Springs officials, those decisions underscore the importance of monitoring not only what the cameras collect, but also who can access the information.

For residents who attended the tour, that oversight was a major reason to see the system for themselves.

The visit gave residents a rare look at the technology from the inside — including how officers interact with the information generated by cameras positioned throughout the city.

But the conversation is far from over.

The department says community engagement and transparency will remain part of the discussion as Palm Springs continues using the technology.

They left with a better understanding of what Flock cameras can do — and with more questions about how surveillance technology should be used, who should have access to the data and what safeguards should be in place.