Flagstaff council cancels Flock Safety ALPR contract after extended public debate
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Summary
After hours of public testimony and council discussion about privacy, public-records risk and public-safety benefits, Flagstaff City Council voted Dec. 16 to cancel the city's cooperative contract with Flock Safety; police deactivated the system immediately and will work with the vendor to remove cameras.
After more than two hours of public testimony and extended council deliberations, the Flagstaff City Council voted Dec. 16 to cancel the city's cooperative contract with Flock Safety for automated license-plate reader (ALPR) cameras.
Mayor Eva Daggett put the motion before the council; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. Following the vote the Flagstaff Police Department deactivated the ALPR system immediately and staff said they will coordinate removal of the cameras with Flock Safety.
Flagstaff police presented the contract amendment earlier in the meeting and outlined several policy changes the department had adopted in response to public concerns. Deputy Chief Colin Seay told council staff had removed Flagstaff from Flock's national and statewide sharing tools, limited active sharing to the Coconino County Sheriff's Office and the Northern Arizona University Police Department, and shortened data retention from 30 days to 14 days. City Chief Information Officer CJ Perry said the city will convene a technology privacy task force to develop an overarching privacy policy for emerging technologies and promised six-month check-ins on the program.
Opposition speakers, including academics, civil-rights advocates and dozens of residents, urged the council to reject renewal, citing news reports of Flock data breaches, the use of overseas contractors to label images, and recent court rulings in Washington state that found some ALPR data can be public records. "This system builds a searchable, time-stamped record of vehicle movements that can reveal where people live, work and worship," said a machine-learning engineer who spoke during public comment. Several speakers also warned about potential use of the data by federal agencies.
Supporters — including prosecutors, victim-witness advocates and Flagstaff-area law-enforcement partners — said ALPRs have produced investigative leads in kidnappings, stolen-vehicle rings and other violent crimes. Michael Tunink, chief deputy at the Coconino County Attorney's Office, told councilors the technology has helped in cases involving child victims and homicides.
Council members stressed the difficulty of the decision. Council member Aslan and others voiced trust in the police department's intentions but said legal uncertainty over whether Flock images constitute public records and the risk of compelled disclosure to federal agencies left them unwilling to proceed. Council member Garcia moved to cancel the contract; the motion carried.
The city issued a statement after the meeting saying the Flagstaff Police Department had deactivated the system and would work with Flock Safety on camera removal. City staff also said the technology privacy task force will meet in January to begin drafting policies that the council would later review.
What happens next: the police department will coordinate technical removal with the vendor and the task force will draft privacy standards and sub-policies for specific technologies. Council members said they expect the task force's work to return to council for further direction.
