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Residents and supervisors press board to pause Flock license-plate camera use pending legal review
Summary
Multiple speakers — residents and at least one supervisor — urged the board to pause any contracts or data-sharing with Flock Safety license-plate networks until staff and counsel review court rulings, misuse incidents elsewhere and the county's authority to act.
Public commenters and several board members raised concerns about the county's use or prospective use of Flock Safety license-plate cameras.
"If this county has an active flock safety contract or any agreement that gives our agencies access to another jurisdiction's flock net... pause it," Ken Dunn told the board, citing reported incidents in other states where officers were charged for misusing the database. He asked the county to "form a committee and do some research on flock safety cameras" and to "immediately pause any active camera operations and new data collection." (Ken Dunn, public comment.)
Residents echoed privacy concerns and warned of mission creep. Supervisor 14 (identified in the transcript by role and remark) asked staff to have attorneys research case law and reported state legislation affecting newly added agenda items. Other supervisors said they would collect legal opinions and put the topic on the next meeting agenda. One supervisor noted that certain vehicle-plate camera operations fall under sheriff's-office authority, and that the board can still make policy recommendations to the sheriff.
The board did not adopt an immediate countywide ban during this meeting; Chair said the matter will be placed on a future agenda and staff will coordinate legal research.
