Month: September 2025

Ata Shaheen

WATSONVILLE, Calif. (KION-TV) — Watsonville is almost doubling the amount of Flock license-plate-reading cameras.

The city council voted to expand police surveillance despite an extraordinary showing of public commenters from the group Get the Flock Out.

Watsonville city council voted 5 to 2 Tuesday evening give the police department a quarter of a million dollars to expand its contract with Flock Safety.

Upon adoption, the audience in the council chambers erupted with booing and chants of “shame.”

The council had just listened to dozens of public comments denouncing the cameras.

“Not only do we not need to go 37, we need to talk about taking down the 20,” said one public commenter, eliciting cheers and applause.

Organizers with Get the Flock Out are concerned about privacy and personal freedoms, and what the cameras could mean for Watsonville’s immigrant community amid the Trump Administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdown.

“The only way to make sure that surveillance data are not used to help ICE terrorize, kidnap, and deport members of our community is to not collect it at all,” said another public commenter.

Watsonville Police said the 20 flock cameras already up have been a big help with recovering stolen cars, tracking missing persons, and making police chases safer.

“We all want privacy. So some privacy measures that are already in place, that you deploy. All data is owned by Watsonville PD and will never be sold to, uh, sold to private third parties,” said Interim Police Chief David Rodriguez.

There are multiple state bills – both in effect and making way through the assembly – that regulate local cooperation with federal agencies like ICE.

“My concerns are not necessarily the integrity of the police, but the integrity of the company that they’re working with. Flock has repeatedly breached their contracts. They have let information go that was crucial to people’s safety,” said a public commenter.

One example – an Illinois state audit found Flock illegally shared data with federal agencies.

“It’s not worth it. You can sue for damages, but you can’t un-deport someone.”

Some of the public commenters said Watsonville made it clear that it doesn’t care about it’s residents.And they said they will continue fighting for a removal of the cameras around the county.There has been success in similar efforts. In late August, Evanston Illinois dropped its contract with Flock after the aforementioned state audit.

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Jeanette Bent

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) — Beeps fill the air as patrons waiting in line at the Santa Cruz County Fair enter on site for its first day, a sound that represents safety and security measures.

“I can say that we have an enhanced level of security,” said Ron Haedicke, the fair’s marketing director. “I would say that at any one time, we’ve got 30 to 40, if not more, security people on the grounds wandering around to make everybody’s stay here even happier.”

Haedicke has been involved with the fair since the 1980s, having held down multiple roles.

He said that security at the fair consists of not only a private team, but also officers from other local departments as well as fair staff.

This comes on the heels of an incident at the Monterey County Fair on August 30 that forced people to evacuate, police saying that a possible shooting and several fights may have prompted this evacuation.

“I think people are concerned, and I understand that, but we hope that they will come and enjoy this fair as they always have,” said Haedicke. “We have protocols set up for every type of incident that could possibly happen here, and we do work together and have meetings so that we’re all on the same page.”

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s office says that they feel comfortable with their level of security ahead of the fair, staffing the event this year the same as they have in years past.

“We have two shifts that are kind or split up at the fair. We have a morning shift and an afternoon shift. Most of the shifts are going to be about four to five deputies,” said Sergeant Zach West. “We’ll also have deputies in a booth handing out sheriff’s office swag.”

Sergeant West did mention rigorous preventative training that local officials participate in prior to large events like this one.

“We actually kind of host an active shooter training. It’s a week-long training,” Sergeant West. “It really encompasses all the law enforcement agencies in Santa Cruz County as well as fire and EMS personnel.”

As carnival rides and games fill up throughout the first day of the fair, Sergeant West wants to remind people that if or when an emergency incident does unfold…

“Obviously these are rapid unfolding situations and they can be very dynamic, and so we want to ensure everybody’s safety so if a situation does unfold, just follow the direction of law enforcement,” said Sergeant West. “And secondly, obviously protect yourself.”

Officials say that they take a proactive approach when it comes to any suspicious activity at the fair.

Despite the Monterey County Fair incident over a week ago, people waiting in line to enter the fair right before it opened, said they were not concerned about their safety and security.

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