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Mountlake Terrace council approves two‑year trial of Flock Safety license‑plate cameras after hours of debate
Summary
The Mountlake Terrace City Council on June 5 voted 5–2 to authorize the city manager to sign a two‑year subscription agreement with Flock Safety for nine license‑plate cameras following hours of presentations, council questioning and public comment.
The Mountlake Terrace City Council on June 5 voted 5–2 to authorize the city manager to sign a two‑year subscription agreement with Flock Safety to install nine automatic license‑plate readers (ALPRs) on major streets.
The council approved the agreement after a detailed presentation by Police Commander Scott King and a live appearance by Kristen McLeod, public affairs manager for Flock Safety, a prolonged question-and-answer session with council members, and more than an hour of public comment that included supporters who said the cameras help recover stolen cars and opponents who raised privacy and civil‑liberties concerns.
Why it matters: The cameras will capture still images of vehicle license plates and basic vehicle characteristics, create a 30‑day searchable database of “hot list” matches, and allow the police department to share selected searches with accredited regional agencies. Supporters said the cameras provide a tool to recover stolen vehicles, illicit drugs and guns more quickly. Opponents warned the system creates a new surveillance database that could be…
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