I keep seeing cities take another look at Flock and other surveillance technology. Mountain View terminated its Flock contract after an internal audit found outside-agency access that violated city policy. Santa Cruz also ended its contract and called for stronger controls and independent auditing.
That makes me ask a pretty obvious question about Anaheim:
Who understands this technology well enough to ask the hard questions before City Council approves it?
I don’t expect every councilmember to be an expert in AI, cybersecurity, privacy, databases or software contracts. But somebody advising them should be.
Chief Manny Cid recently told residents in a Mother Colony email discussion that APD conducts periodic audits, but he also referenced concerns caused by the “misuse of a few individuals.” His response did not say whether those individuals were connected to Anaheim.
That deserves a public conversation.
My proposal is simple: independent technical review before high-risk technology contracts reach Council, experts who understand AI, cybersecurity and privacy, vendor conflict-of-interest disclosures and recusal, and independent auditing after the technology is deployed.
Anaheim already has a commission that advises Council on information technology. I believe we should build on that structure with specialized technical expertise for these high-risk contracts.
Understand it before we buy it. Audit it after we use it. Come back for public review when it changes.
What questions would you want answered before Anaheim approves technology like this?
