License plate cameras in Moorpark to take aim at retail thieves

Fifteen automated license plate recognition cameras will go up on Moorpark street poles as part of a countywide effort to curb retail theft.

The Moorpark City Council Wednesday voted 5-0 to give permission to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office to install the cameras at no cost to the city.

The cameras will take color photos of the front and back of vehicles, including the license plate, and will be accompanied by data such as color, make and model, said sheriff's Capt. Darin Hendren, who serves as Moorpark's police chief. The sheriff's office is contracted to provide police services in the city.

Photos won't show the faces of drivers or their passengers, he said.

The plan is to cover areas where thieves try to use the Highway 118 and 23 corridors to enter or leave Moorpark, Hendren said.

The cameras are among 100 being funded in Ventura County by the California Organized Retail Theft Prevention grant program. The local sheriff's office received a $15.6 million grant in 2023 for the overall effort to reduce retail theft around the county.

Wednesday's vote authorized City Manager Troy Brown to enter an agreement with Flock Safety, the Atlanta security company that owns and operates the cameras and is leasing them to the county, to place them on street poles.

The technology isn't a “silver bullet” to stop retail theft, but will be an effective tool in solving cases and deterring thieves, the city manager said.

The camera locations appear to cover every entry point into Moorpark, Brown said, which will help tackle a regional problem that goes beyond jurisdictional lines.

Flock cameras aren't new to Ventura County, but the 100 new units are being purchased with a focus on retail theft.

The locations were chosen by the Ventura County Organized Retail Theft Task Force. The task force includes all law enforcement agencies in the county and is overseen by the sheriff's office.

The other 85 cameras will be deployed countywide as part of the group's efforts, according to sheriff's officials.

Moorpark's cameras will go up after a six- to eight-week permitting process with the city's Public Works Department, Hendren said.

During the meeting, council members expressed support for the cameras. No one spoke during public comments.

"Do I want to live in a society that has cameras everywhere?" Mayor Chris Enegren said before the vote. "No. But I don't want to live in one where people rob stores all the time."

The grant will cover rental and maintenance costs of $3,000 to $3,300 annually for each camera through May 2027, Hendren said. That's when Flock Safety will remove the cameras. At that time, the county could get another grant, he said, or the city could purchase cameras.

The 15 cameras will be on major streets such as Los Angeles Avenue, Tierra Rejada Road, Moorpark Road and Princeton Avenue, according to Hendren’s report to the council. Some are near ramps for Highways 118 and 23. Three are just outside city limits.

Already, cameras with older technology, mounted on the top of three Moorpark patrol cars, proved effective in cases such as recovering stolen vehicles, Hendren said.

The new cameras' data will be kept private and will be used strictly for criminal investigations by Ventura County sheriff's personnel with unique usernames and passwords, according to Hendren. City staff can’t access the data, which will be deleted after one year.

Ventura County will share the data through Flock Safety to other counties in California, who won't be required to make a request or secure a warrant, the captain said.

The data won't be available to other states or the federal government and can't be used to enforce immigration laws under Senate Bill 54, known as the California Values Act of 2017, he said.

Dave Mason covers East County for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at dave.mason@vcstar.com or 805-437-0232.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Moorpark license plate recognition cameras aimed at retail theft