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West Hollywood asks staff to review Flock license‑plate reader agreement amid immigration‑enforcement concerns
Summary
Citing national immigration enforcement and unanswered vendor questions, the council directed staff and the city attorney to review the city's agreement with automated license‑plate reader vendor Flock and return with recommendations to protect residents' data and prevent sharing with federal immigration agencies.
After public testimony and council debate, West Hollywood’s City Council unanimously directed staff to review the city's public safety camera program—specifically the automated license‑plate reader (ALPR) system provided by vendor Flock—and return with contract- and policy-based options to ensure that collected data is not shared with federal immigration enforcement agencies.
Council members Byers and Erickson led the item (F7), citing concerns that the vendor has not answered questions posed by multiple cities and that data collected by ALPR systems could be accessed by outside parties. Byers said the issue was about whom the city chooses to work with and whether that partner can be trusted to safeguard residents’ data.
"This vendor has not answered our questions or the questions of many other cities across this country to the extent that we have confidence that we can trust," Council member Byers said. "We have to consider whether our public dollars are supporting a vendor that protects our community's data."
Public Safety staff and the sheriff's captain responded to council questions in the meeting. The city's public-safety administrator said the current contract retention period for Flock data is 30 days and that disclosure decisions are managed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department West Hollywood station command staff. Captain Fanny told the dais, "We do not share any data specifically with any federal agents or ICE on that." Public Safety Director Danny Rivas said the city had not yet received Flock’s legal strategy regarding subpoenas and that staff would seek that information and conduct a city-attorney review.
Mayor Heilman and other council members emphasized that the direction to staff was investigatory—staff should review contract terms, data-retention and disclosure processes, and potential remedies (including technological, contractual or procurement options), and then return to the council with recommendations.
Next steps: Staff will coordinate with the city attorney and public safety to request written documentation from Flock about data-sharing policies, retention and legal defenses, and will report back to the council with options for stronger contractual safeguards and, if necessary, alternative vendors or operational changes.
