Liberty Lake council approves $64,855 Flock Safety subscription after privacy questions

Liberty Lake — The City Council approved an annual subscription for Flock Safety license‑plate‑reader cameras and software, totaling $64,855, after an extended discussion about privacy, oversight and public‑safety benefits.

Police Chief Simmons told the council the system detects vehicle details and license plates only and does not capture faces or personal identification. “It doesn't detect people… No facial recognition involved with them, and it's not involved in traffic enforcement, at all,” Simmons said, describing monthly audits, multifactor authentication and a 30‑day automatic deletion policy for footage not associated with crime. He also said the footage is owned by the city and “is never sold or shared by Flock.”

Residents had pressed the council for clear safeguards. Lynn Atkins, a Liberty Lake resident who researched regional reporting and a University of Washington study, asked whether a national lookup feature had ever been active, whether multifactor authentication was being used, how access is audited and whether retention practices complied with Washington’s Public Records Act. “Are we using multifactor authentication? How is usage monitored and audited to prevent misuse?” Atkins asked.

Council members and the chief addressed those questions in public. Simmons said federal agency access has been revoked in the past and that the department audits internal and external searches, which must include a criminal reason and are logged with the searching user and any case number. He acknowledged proposed state legislation to limit retention to 72 hours could require operational changes but said it would be workable with policy adjustments. “Will it affect us? Yes. Is it something we can work with? Yes,” Simmons said.

Council member Ball framed a common concern: “How do we keep these other agencies, like this backdoor access, getting permission, somehow getting into our Flock system and using it for nefarious reasons?” Ball asked, referencing national reporting of unauthorized access and the UW study. City staff and the chief said they had revoked external access where appropriate and that access is traceable through audit trails.

Chief Simmons also described several local investigative successes tied to the cameras, including arrests in serious cases and recovery of stolen vehicles; he argued those outcomes improve clearance rates and officer safety. He emphasized that the system supplies objective vehicle data and that internal audits and access controls limit misuse.

The council moved the subscription from the consent list into action and approved the purchase after the briefing and discussion. The vote was taken on the record with no council member recorded as voting no.

What happens next: City staff said they will continue to monitor state legislation and audit practices and report back on any changes required by law. The department also said it will continue monthly audits of access and usage and will work with the council on policy updates if retention or access rules change.