Council weighs 60‑day Flock camera trial as privacy concerns surface

Washington Terrace — Council members on March 3 debated whether to approve a 60‑day trial of additional Flock automatic license‑plate readers, with privacy advocates on the council urging caution and sheriff’s staff describing operational safeguards.

City Manager Tom Hanson introduced the request for additional cameras and a 60‑day test to evaluate results. Council Member Zunayid Z. Zishan presented a sharply critical view, saying his research found the company operates at scale and citing instances he described as abuses: "when we sign the contract after the trial period, we will be handing our residents’ data to a private corporation with no real control for who sees it," he said, and he listed reported uses including searches tied to immigration, domestic‑tracking incidents, and data shared with federal agents. He also referenced a Cornell University of Law report he said found no evidence the system reduces crime.

Lt. Sean Endsley, representing the Weber County Sheriff's Office, described how the cameras are used operationally and said the office follows state rules on data capture and retention. "The data can only be used and searched to aid in a criminal investigation, to locate missing or endangered people, locate stolen vehicles and to locate wanted people with active arrest warrants," Endsley said. He added the system includes audit logs, that searches require a case number, that only supervisors and detectives have search rights in the county system, and that data currently in the county system is stored for about 30 days while noting state law allows longer retainage in some circumstances.

Endsley highlighted investigative successes the tools have supported, including tracking suspects in kidnapping and homicide cases and locating stolen vehicles and a resident with a medical emergency. He acknowledged any tool can be misused and said the Sheriff’s Office investigates and disciplines inappropriate access.

Council Member Cheryl Parkinson and Council Member Anna Davidson expressed support for weighing benefits and protections; Davidson said state law and agency controls provide guardrails, while Parkinson said privacy concerns raised by residents should be addressed. Hanson said the item will return on a forthcoming agenda for a formal motion and that the city would arrange how access is shared through a memorandum of understanding if the council approves leased cameras; Hanson said the city would own the lease while law‑enforcement access would remain controlled by the Sheriff’s Office.

No trial authorization or purchase was approved at the March 3 meeting; council members asked for more information about uses, retention, and access controls before a vote.