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Residents press Thornton council on Flock Safety camera network and police data-sharing
Summary
Multiple residents urged the council to reconsider use of Flock Safety cameras and asked for stronger audit controls, citing security vulnerabilities, national data-sharing concerns and potential chilling effects on immigrant communities; council and mayor said concerns will be addressed through further review and public engagement.
Several residents used the audience participation segment at Thornton City Council’s Feb. 24 meeting to urge the city to reconsider its use of license-plate–reading cameras managed by Flock Safety and to ask for stricter audit and oversight procedures.
At least four speakers raised questions about the cameras’ security and data use. Resident Steven Butler, who submitted a white paper to the council, said the system appeared to have vulnerabilities at the hardware and software level and urged a more robust audit and oversight regime. “This is a data company. They’re not really a security company,” Butler said, urging the council to review the white paper and discuss alternatives.
Matthew Moore emphasized the company's scale and fiduciary incentives, warning that the camera vendor treats citizens’ data as its product: “Flock is a 7 and a half billion dollar company that has 300,000,000 in recurring annual revenue,” he said, and added that the company’s lobbying and access arrangements merit scrutiny.
Dr. Ernestine Garcia, a Ward 2 resident, framed the concerns around community trust: she said immigrant neighbors may be deterred from reporting crimes if they fear data will be shared nationally and cited cases where other jurisdictions provided access to outside agencies. “When a portion of our community is afraid to call the Thornton PD … then nobody in our community is safe,” Garcia said.
Councilmembers acknowledged the concerns and described next steps. Councilmember Martinez noted Thornton Police Department plans to host an education and engagement meeting on March 5 at the Thornton Community Center to introduce liaison officers and discuss public-safety topics. Mayor Coleman and others said the city will continue to gather information and that staff will review alternative providers and security practices.
What’s next: Council said additional reports from police staff on vendor security practices, audit logs, access controls and interjurisdictional data-sharing will be provided in coming weeks, and councilmembers signaled they will continue the conversation at future meetings.
