The city of Alexandria wants to get rid of its Flock automated license-plate-reading cameras amid nationwide pushback against the company for reported misuse of its data.
Mayor Alyia Gaskins and multiple City Council members called for review and potential removal of Flock-brand cameras over concerns of potential invasions of privacy. Other cities across the country have reported abuse, such as officials using the license-plate readers to stalk ex-partners and track people’s movements unrelated to any crime.
The Institute for Justice, a nonprofit law firm based in Arlington, has documented more than 200 alleged instances of misuse across the U.S. since 2018. There are also concerns the information could be shared with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to unlawfully track immigrants.
“I do not think there is a role for Flock in this community,” Gaskins said Tuesday at a City Council meeting. “There is still a role for technology … but there is agreement that we need to be moving away from the current vendor that we have.”
Trending
Getting rid of Flock cameras doesn’t necessarily mean the city will scrap license-plate cameras altogether, but there is a consensus among leaders that the city should move forward with a different vendor if it chooses to keep using the technology.
The Alexandria Police Department has 61 Flock cameras, the first of which were installed in 2023. There may be more automated license cameras in city limits, but those are maintained by other entities such as private land owners or education institutions. City cameras delete data after 21 days unless associated with an active investigation.
In the past month, the city has run 327 searches in its Flock database, according to a newly published online portal. The city has data-sharing agreements with 161 other jurisdictions within Virginia, but Alexandria Police Chief Tarrick McGuire said at Tuesday’s meeting that no agencies outside of the commonwealth, including federal agencies like ICE, are able to access the city’s cameras.
McGuire said internal audits show zero instances of misuse within the department, but reporting from the Alexandria Times showed the police had documented 56, most of which stemmed from officers not giving proper explanations as to why a search was run. McGuire said the Police Department has multiple safeguards in place to prevent misuse of the Flock system, such as internal auditing and restricting access to trained personnel.
“As leaders, our responsibility is not to choose between public safety and civil liberties. Our responsibility is to ensure that both are protected,” he said Tuesday. “The Constitution … requires us to govern in a way that safeguards the rights of individuals while protecting all persons in our communities.”
The city can terminate its contract with Flock at any time. No official action or proposal to withdraw has been taken. The city is in talks to secure an independent auditor for the system, which City Manager James Parajon said should be finalized in about a week.
Author
