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Columbia Heights council pauses on ALPR deployment, directs staff to explore cancellation and create task force
Summary
Councilmembers and the mayor expressed privacy and trust concerns about automatic license plate readers (ALPR). The council asked staff to consult the City Attorney about contract termination, pursue a community-representative task force, and evaluate local data storage options.
Columbia Heights Mayor Amáda Márquez Simula and councilmembers opened a broad discussion on automatic license plate reader (ALPR) technology on June 1, pressing staff to slow deployment and seek more community guidance.
“[I] would be in favor of taking a pause on the cameras until there is a task force to guide what the City does,” Mayor Amáda Márquez Simula said, proposing a tech-focused task force that would include residents, people with technology expertise, and representatives of immigrant communities. Police Chief Matt Markham had asked the Council for direction on Flock Safety and Axon systems and on public engagement to evaluate those vendors and a pilot.
Several councilmembers voiced stronger objections. Councilmember Rachel James said she favored canceling the existing contract immediately rather than switching vendors, noting community members reported feeling unsafe attending meetings and raising concerns about data security. “I would be against moving to a new automatic license plate reader company,” James said. Councilmember Justice Spriggs echoed concerns about data privacy and said moving forward with the contract would “sever the trust between the City and the community.”
Councilmember Laurel Deneen and Councilmember Rachel James both said storing ALPR data on locally-controlled servers could address some privacy concerns; Deneen also flagged contract language that links to a “living document,” arguing contingencies should be written and signed. City Manager Aaron Chirpich said staff will consult the City Attorney about how to terminate the contract and return with options.
The Council’s consensus direction to staff was threefold: consult the City Attorney on contract termination procedures, initiate formation of an ALPR Technical Advisory Task Force (with member selection assistance from the Multicultural Advisory Committee), and explore options to store data locally if the program continues. Police Chief Markham also noted that collecting reliable baseline operational data would be difficult as a practical matter.
The item remains under Council direction; staff will return with legal and procedural options for canceling or pausing the contract and with proposed task force membership and a public-engagement plan.
