Residents urge Renton to end contract with Flock Safety, citing security vulnerabilities

Several Renton residents used the public‑comment period at the June 8 Renton City Council meeting to urge the council to terminate the city’s contract with Flock Safety and remove its license‑plate reader cameras from public streets.

Andrew Roriado, a Renton resident, told the council that independent researchers have identified multiple security problems in Flock devices, including camera streams exposed to the public internet and a vulnerability in the Flock Falcon device that allowed access by triggering a device Wi‑Fi mode and using an apparently common password. “These devices are insecure,” Roriado said, and he asked the council to “discontinue their contract with Flock Safety and actively remove these devices from the city.”

A virtual commenter, Ellie Robershaw, reiterated those concerns and pointed to past incidents she said involved data leaked to law enforcement agencies and other third parties. Robershaw said clients such as federal or out‑of‑jurisdiction agencies seeking near‑real‑time access to license‑plate data are a particular worry, and argued Renton should not rely on the company’s assurances about data handling.

The comments cited publicly reported incidents and named security researchers; speakers framed the issue as a trade‑off between public safety tools and residents’ privacy and civil‑liberties protections. Roriado warned the council that the devices, if not configured securely, could be accessed by relatively simple methods and used to track people.

Council members did not take formal action on the Flock Safety contract during the meeting. The speakers’ requests were made during the public‑comment period; no vote or committee referral about the contract was recorded in the meeting minutes.