After more than a month of delays, the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department this week set a new date for the release of public records about its Flock Safety Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras.
The Los Gatan filed an initial request to the agency under the California Public Records Act on June 14, but the department failed to meet a 10-calendar-day deadline to respond after losing track of it.
Given that the Town overhauled its public records system July 1, the Los Gatan refiled the records request under the new system, July 3. The department responded to this updated request on July 11, stating it anticipated handing over the documents by July 25.
But on July 25, LGMSPD extended the deadline to Aug. 8, in order to “complete its legal review and any necessary redactions.”
According to the latest bi-annual Police Services Report from Jan. 8, “Auditing ability of camera usage ensures compliance with strict access policies,” and “only authorized law enforcement personnel can access Flock data, and such access is logged and monitored to ensure compliance with policies.”
On the other hand, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office produced their Flock records on June 24, 10 days after the same request was submitted by the Los Gatan to that agency. These include 18 months-worth of data from “network audits,” which track searches of cameras by members of area agencies, and “organization audits,” internal searches by Sheriff’s Office personnel.
Meanwhile, LGMSPD Sgt. Katherine Mann, who manages the department’s social media presence and other communications, is retiring after 27 years with the force.
After joining as an intern in 1998, she became a secretary in the detective bureau before being sworn in as an officer in 2001.
Since then, she worked as a detective from 2007-2011 and 2016-2019 and made sergeant in 2021.
“It has been an absolute pleasure to work in this great community,” Mann wrote in a Facebook post announcing her departure. “I have shared in your joy and happiness and been there to comfort some of you on your worst days. I hope I did it well.”
On Tuesday, Council was set to consider the purchase of two new police vehicles with CHP Cannabis Tax Fund Grant Program dollars derived from illicit cannabis operations.
