The Morro Bay City Council decided to maintain its automated license plate reader program on Oct. 13, despite a contentious discussion about government surveillance, data retention, and information sharing with outside law enforcement agencies.
A motion to discontinue the program failed to secure majority support, leaving the cameras operating while city staff prepares possible revisions to the Morro Bay Police Department’s policies.
“The bottom line is [it] creates an overreaching surveillance state in our little city,” Councilmember Jeff Eckles said of the technology. “I don’t think it’s the role of our local government to do that.”
The city operates 10 fixed automated license plate reader cameras and one mobile unit under a five-year, $153,659 contract with Motorola Solutions, unanimously approved by the council in January 2023.
Stationed near major entrances and exits throughout Morro Bay, the cameras capture license plate numbers, vehicle descriptions, and the time and location of each detection, allowing officers to search the information during criminal investigations.
Under the Police Department’s current policy, data can be retained for up to five years and shared with approximately 80 other California law enforcement agencies.
During the meeting, Police Cmdr. Tony Mosqueda said that the department conducted annual audits during the program’s first two years before transitioning to monthly reviews late last year.
Although department policy requires only one audit annually, Mosqueda said improvements to Motorola’s auditing software have made more frequent reviews possible.
Those audits have revealed problems with outside agencies’ compliance with the city’s information-sharing requirements.
Mosqueda said he recently revoked five departments’ access to Morro Bay’s database after discovering they failed to properly complete required search fields, including case numbers and reasons for accessing the information.
“We have not found any misuses,” Mosqueda said, explaining that the departments lost access for failing to follow search requirements rather than confirmed unauthorized use.
He also reported that outside agencies conducted approximately 24 searches of Morro Bay’s database during a recent 24-hour period, averaging one search per hour.
“This is chilling,” Eckles said.
Police Chief Amy Watkins defended the program, citing its usefulness in locating missing persons, identifying suspects, and assisting criminal investigations.
Watkins highlighted several cases aided by the technology, including a March road rage incident involving a firearm and the May arrest of a felony battery suspect wanted in Monterey County.
According to the Oct. 13 staff report, the system does not use facial recognition technology, and information collected by the cameras is owned by the city rather than Motorola.
The report states that Morro Bay’s system is not configured to share information with federal or out-of-state law enforcement agencies. An Oct. 1 audit identified no unauthorized access or use.
However, a May class-action lawsuit filed in Marin County alleges that certain Motorola automated license plate reader systems used by California agencies permitted information sharing with federal and out-of-state authorities.
Councilmember Zara Landrum supported discontinuing the program, acknowledging its investigative benefits but expressing concerns about the long-term implications of surveillance technology.
“What we don’t know [is] where this will go,” Landrum said. “This is just, like, a little step in dipping our toes in.”
Mayor Carla Wixom and council members Cyndee Edwards and Bill Luffee supported retaining the cameras with additional restrictions.
Luffee proposed reducing the five-year maximum data retention period to 30 days and called for stronger oversight.
“The auditing, I think, has been poor, to be honest with you,” Luffee said. “We need to have some accountability on the auditing purposes in order for this particular system to continue.”
Watkins said the department is already considering reducing its maximum retention period to one year, noting that the original five-year limit was intended to preserve information for cold case investigations.
Wixom supported continuing the program through the remainder of its contract while reducing data retention and strengthening oversight.
“I certainly support 30 days,” Wixom said. “I think we probably need to do a better job on our audits, but I support the continuation of this contract for the next two years.”
A motion to end the program, made by Landrum and seconded by Eckles, failed.
Following the vote, council directed staff to return with proposed revisions addressing data retention, auditing procedures, and information-sharing agreements. Eckles also proposed terminating data sharing with outside agencies altogether.
The contract expires in early 2028. Until the council considers additional restrictions, the cameras will continue operating under existing policies.
This article appears in Oct 15-22, 2026.
