Topic
Community pushback
Residents, councils, and campaigns opposing or removing systems.
50 articles · page 3 of 3 · RSS
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Flock Safety Employees Watched Kids' Gymnastics Room to Pitch Surveillance Tech (Updated)
yahoo.com
Public records obtained by a Dunwoody, Georgia resident show Flock Safety staff, including a vice president, viewed cameras labeled "Gymnastics" and "Main Pool Right" at a Jewish community center during sales demonstrations for prospective police clients. Flock's CEO apologized, and the city council renewed the contract with added data-ownership guardrails. The piece also notes Georgia officer misuse arrests, camera vandalism, and LAPD letting its Flock contract expire.
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As license plate readers expand, North Bay communities debate the meaning of public safety
norcalpublicmedia.org
NorCal Public Media reports on the widening North Bay argument over automated license plate readers, covering how cities in and around Sonoma County have weighed police claims about solved cases against residents' objections to continuous vehicle tracking.
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‘Creepy surveillance’: why some cities are shutting down Flock cameras amid privacy concerns
theguardian.com
Residents and council members in Dunwoody, Georgia pressed Flock Safety over a terms-of-service change and hacking demonstrations, deferring rather than cancelling a roughly half-million-dollar annual contract. Security researchers showed some Condor cameras streaming to the open internet and firmware passwords readable on a purchased device; Flock disputes the severity. Mountain View, Santa Cruz, South Pasadena, Flagstaff and Denver ended or paused programs, citing federal and out-of-state searches of local plate data.
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City Council expected to renew Flock Safety contract for automatic license plate readers
sonomanews.com
The Sonoma City Council was set to vote March 30 on a three-year, $50,000-per-year renewal with Flock Safety extending use of 16 fixed license plate cameras through September 2028. The proposed contract sets 30-day retention, limits access to three certified administrators tied to documented cases, and bars sharing with federal or out-of-state agencies under SB 34. Local group Wake Up Sonoma has urged a city ordinance codifying privacy rules and public disclosure of camera locations and audits.
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Petaluma latest Sonoma County city to debate use of license plate readers
pressdemocrat.com
Petaluma's Public Safety Advisory Committee took up the city's four Flock cameras, adding Petaluma to the list of Sonoma County jurisdictions reconsidering license plate readers. The Press Democrat covers the committee's deliberations and the arguments residents and police brought to them.
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Why some cities are canceling Flock license plate reader contracts
npr.org
NPR reports on municipalities ending Flock Safety agreements, with local officials citing the prospect of federal immigration agents reaching data collected on residents and a lack of transparency about who can search it. The piece covers both the reasoning of councils that voted to cancel and the responses of police departments that wanted the cameras kept.
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Joplin officer no longer employed after alleged misuse of license plate tracking system
kctv5.com
A Joplin, Missouri police officer left the department amid an internal affairs investigation into misuse of the Flock license plate reader system, allegedly searching one plate roughly 395 times over 14 months while citing only "DWI" or "Warrants" without case numbers. Activist group Deflock Joplin says its analysis found the user accounted for about 25% of departmental Flock queries and questions the contract's approval and missing written policy. Police pledged monthly audits and cited cases solved with the system.
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Public safety must-have or threat to civil liberties? Debate over Flock license plate reader cameras has taken hold in North Bay
pressdemocrat.com
The Press Democrat surveys Flock deployments across the North Bay and finds Santa Rosa running the largest network in the region: 129 cameras with four more awaiting installation, under two contracts worth $421,650 and $897,999 in state and federal money, on a 30-day retention window. Healdsburg and Rohnert Park operate 26 and 23 cameras respectively.
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Eugene and Springfield both announce end of Flock camera usage
opb.org
Eugene and Springfield, Oregon, announced they are ending use of Flock Safety license plate cameras, citing unspecified vulnerabilities and limitations affecting data security and operational control. Eugene terminated its contract outright, while Springfield will remove cameras that were never activated but said it may seek another ALPR vendor. Opponents cited federal surveillance risks; police had credited the cameras with faster stolen-vehicle recoveries.
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Santa Rosa police chief addresses concerns about Flock cameras, privacy and ICE access
newsbreak.com
Santa Rosa Police Chief John Cregan told KRCB that the department's license plate reader data is shared only with a limited set of Northern California agencies under signed memoranda of understanding, and is not shared with federal agencies or used for immigration, political, medical, or religious tracking. He cited errors at Chico and Mountain View as human error and said a community meeting was scheduled for September 17 at the Utility Field Office.