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Olympia residents urge council to end Flock camera contract; study session set for Dec. 2
Summary
Several residents called on the Olympia City Council to terminate its contract with Flock and remove the company’s cameras, saying the system enables biometric profiling and risks subpoenas of location data; the council scheduled a Dec. 2 study session for staff and the police to respond.
Several residents urged the Olympia City Council on Nov. 25 to end the city’s contract with Flock and remove the company’s street cameras, saying the system gathers sensitive data and creates privacy and civil-rights risks.
"This is a company that's operating a nationwide automated biometric and racial profiling system," said Bill Cotter, who identified himself as a responsible-AI expert and a former Department of Homeland Security employee. Cotter cited Flock patents that, he said, describe algorithms for classifying gender, race and clothing and for estimating pedestrians’ height and weight.
Courtney Seacal, a resident, told the council the datasets such systems create could conflict with local sanctuary commitments and state laws. She cited what she described in testimony as RCW 10 93 160 and Washington’s “My Health My Data” law (transcript: RCW 19,373) and argued that location tracking of travel to hospitals and clinics could expose sensitive health-related movements.
Other speakers raised similar concerns. Paris Lamoreaux warned that federal immigration agencies have accessed police camera data in other Washington cities and said Flock data can be accessed without a warrant, and David Webb asked council members to use the upcoming information session to dig into how Flock operates and to prioritize constituent safety.
Council members did not take immediate action. Mayor Pro Tem Nguyen thanked residents for their advocacy and announced a study session on Flock for Dec. 2 at 6 p.m., when staff and the Olympia Police Department (OPD) will present information and take questions from council members. City Manager Jay Berney said OPD’s chief is tracking the community’s questions and will try to address them during that presentation.
Mayor Payne reiterated that the Dec. 2 meeting will be a study session — an informational exchange between council and staff — and that there will be no public comment at that session. Residents were urged to submit questions and written comments by email if they want the council or staff to consider them before or during the study session.
What happened next: the council did not vote to change the Flock contract on Nov. 25; it scheduled the Dec. 2 study session for staff and OPD to respond to technical, privacy and policy questions raised by the public.
