Residents warn of security and privacy risks in Flock Safety camera contract

At the start of public comment during the May 11 Commerce City Council meeting, multiple residents urged the council to reconsider its recently approved contract with Flock Safety and raised security and civil‑liberties concerns.

Brandon Jimenez told council that the Flock devices deployed in similar communities "likely run Android 8 and 8.1," an operating system he said stopped receiving security updates in 2021. "Security research Ben Jordan has documented over 900 published CVEs for this operating system," Jimenez said, and he alleged physical access methods that could allow an attacker to gain root access to cameras and extract images and data.

Nate Harris, who also spoke during public comment, said the city had approved a "binding $4,500,000 five‑year contract to install invasive, unconstitutional, and insecure surveillance systems" and cited news reports and audits from other Colorado jurisdictions showing operational issues, misuse and high volumes of searches by officers. Harris said communities such as Denver later rescinded their Flock contracts and that community groups are mapping camera locations publicly so residents can see planned deployments.

Commenters cited federal scrutiny and advocacy: Jimenez referenced requests by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and a federal representative to the FTC for an investigation into data exposures, and Harris noted state‑level attempts to tighten warrant requirements for access to some ALPR (automatic license plate reader) data. Both speakers urged transparency, audits and stronger controls on data access.

Council members acknowledged the concerns during later discussion; no council motion to rescind or alter the approved Flock contract was made at the meeting. The public comment prompted questions from council and staff about audit logs, oversight and how the city would use and monitor ALPR data.