Local & Community
License plate cameras take center stage at Cathedral City council meeting tonight
Cathedral City's police department will present its Automated License Plate Recognition, or ALPR, program to city council today, breaking down how the cameras work, what privacy protections are in place, and how officers are allowed to use the system.
The special study session starts at 3 p.m., ahead of the regular council meeting at 5:30 p.m. Both will be held at City Council Chambers, 68-700 Avenida Lalo Guerrero.
According to a staff report from Police Chief Rick Sanchez, Cathedral City has used license plate reading technology since at least 2013, and began installing Flock Safety's fixed cameras in 2021, starting with just two. The department now runs 34 cameras across the city, costing about $80,000 a year in licensing fees.
The cameras snap a photo of a vehicle's plate, along with the date, time, location, and basic details like make and color, whenever a car drives past. The police department says the system doesn't use facial recognition, doesn't track people, and doesn't follow a car's location in real time, it only captures a vehicle the moment it passes a fixed point. That information is automatically deleted after 30 days.
On the privacy side, the city says every search of the system is tied to an individual officer's login, requires a documented case number, and gets audited monthly. Cathedral City says it does not share plate data with federal agencies, including immigration authorities, or with out-of-state law enforcement, though it does share with other California agencies that meet state requirements. The department says it cut off access for El Cajon police after that department was sued by the state Attorney General for allegedly sharing plate data with out-of-state agencies.
Tonight's session in Cathedral City is informational only. Staff is asking council to simply receive and file the presentation, meaning no formal action is expected.
Cathedral City isn't the only Valley city reviewing the technology tonight. Indio holds its own presentation later this evening, with Police Chief Brian Tully briefing council on the department's Flock camera policies and safety measures during the 5 p.m. regular session at council chambers, 100 Civic Center Drive. No staff report has been released for that item as of the time of writing.
The back-to-back briefings come as license plate reading cameras face growing pushback nationally, with critics raising concerns about data access, how long information is kept, and the potential for misuse.
By: Harrison Bluto
September 16, 2026
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