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Student panelist proposes community-led inquiry into Flock (ALPR) use and data
Summary
A student member proposed outreach to the Boulder Police Department and a community forum to provide more detailed metrics about the city's automatic license plate reader (ALPR) system; public comment raised questions about contract renewal and whether Flock helps detect human trafficking.
Alex, a student member of the oversight panel, told the panel he'd convened a small group to reach out to the Boulder Police Department about the city's ALPR ("Flock") data and to explore ways the community could get more detailed metrics or a dedicated transparency page.
"What we've seen a lot in the public sphere is that people have very strong opinions about things like flock or ALPR systems in general, but they don't have a lot of data to back back it up," Alex said. He proposed opening a dialogue with BPD, then designing a community meeting or transparency portal so residents could review more in-depth metrics.
Chris Reynolds cautioned that any community engagement by the panel needs to follow the municipal code about how the panel can hold engagement events, and suggested continuing the planning offline to stay within required channels. Alex said he would continue outreach and Sherry said she could follow up with BPD contacts, specifically noting an outreach attempt to Dr. Reinhart at BPD had not yet received a response.
Members of the public also spoke during public comment. Scott Redelman said, "I think it's important when you hear back from that to understand what uses flock is used to catch, human trafficking." Tristan Fay asked whether the ALPR contract had been included as a budget line item and when it would come up for renewal or a vote. Alex said he would try to include those questions in follow-up requests to BPD and report back to the panel.
