Mountlake Terrace DEIC debates oversight, MOUs for Flock camera system

Mountlake Terrace’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Commission (DEIC) spent the meeting considering how the city should oversee and account for a newly approved Flock License Plate Recognition camera system, focusing on community oversight structures, audit frequency and how memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with other jurisdictions will govern external access to footage.

Commissioners described three oversight options: reconstitute a previously convened community advisory committee; have a DEIC representative regularly review Flock data with police command staff; or rely solely on periodic reports that the police department will provide to the City Council. Commissioners emphasized that the group was not being asked to vote on any formal policy at this meeting.

The discussion mattered because the Flock system stores and shares vehicle location imagery across a closed-loop network that other cities can access under interlocal agreements. Commissioners repeatedly raised privacy and equity questions: who may query the data, whether vendor-held data can be compelled by out-of-state warrants or subpoenas, how audits will be conducted, and whether…