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Mount Vernon council votes to turn off and cover Flock ALPR cameras until contract ends
Summary
After hours of public comment and council debate about privacy and public safety, Mount Vernon City Council voted to turn off and cover the city’s license‑plate reader cameras until the Flock contract expires in November 2026. The 3‑4 roll call split followed competing arguments about investigatory benefits and data‑sharing risks.
Mount Vernon — The City Council voted on March 11 to turn off and cover all of the city’s license‑plate reader (ALPR) cameras and keep them covered until the current contract expires in November 2026. The roll call vote was 3 in favor (Vanderstoop, Oliver, West) and 4 opposed (Tercero/Tricero, Hudson, Beaton, Damon).
The decision followed a lengthy public comment period in which many residents urged the council to cancel the city’s contract with Flock, the company that supplies the ALPR network. “My issue is with Block, the company, not with the Mount Vernon PD,” said Andrea, a Mount Vernon resident who read contract language aloud and described machine‑learning uses and a lack of local control. Advocate Sage Wilkirk told the council that crowdsourced and city transparency portals list between six and eight Flock cameras in Mount Vernon and noted the city spent about $30,000 of American Rescue…
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