Council Agrees To Audit Continued Use of Flock Cameras

The Mountain View City Council has agreed to keep its two Flock Safety license plate reader cameras in operation in the city, but to require the police department to report regularly about access to the information.

Action came July 14 after interaction with attendees who expressed concern about privacy and asked questions of two Flock representatives who attended via video call. Debate was ended after about an hour and council members invited further questions and discussion on an individual basis, and welcomed residents to pursue a referendum on use of the cameras as had been discussed.

Only a few of the 40 or so attendees there for the discussion indicated they live in the city limits.

Police Chief George Bethell started discussion by answering questions from the previous meeting, at which he agreed to contact communities that had been said to have removed Flock cameras. He reported that Greers Ferry had removed cameras that had been purchased initially and replaced them with Flock Safety brand. He said he asked the state attorney general about pending litigation in the state and was told there was none the office was aware of. He asked about a case in Virginia where the legality of Flock cameras was challenged, and found that the challengers ultimately lost that case.

Two representatives of Flock Safety were available via video chat displayed on a large screen at the front of the room. Account executive and public affairs representative Ian Leslie of the Atlanta-based company provided background about how the company got started and explained how the cameras work.

Leslie said the cameras capture images of the make, model, license plate number and major characteristics of vehicles that pass a location, and will generate an alert within 20 seconds to an agency that has input a tag number in connection with an active investigation. He said the cameras do not utilize facial recognition and they are not used to track people.

He further stated that any information gathered is retained by the local department and is never shared by Flock, and it is protected by end-to-end encryption. The company has received multiple certifications for its safety protocols, Leslie said. The information is set to auto-delete after 30 days, and Bethell has said the department could set that to be a shorter time if they wish.

Leslie said the use of cameras is no different from someone standing on a street corner and observing traffic.
He addressed the system’s auditing tools, which flag any atypical reviews of the information.

Leslie also addressed and discounted common myths association with the cameras.

Questions from the audience covered the company’s perpetual license, the error rate (which Leslie said had just improved from 7 percent to 1 percent), potential for misuse, liability for misuse, incorporation of cameras purchased by private companies.

Audience members asked why the public was not asked to vote on installation of such a system. Council member Finis Brewer pointed out that citizens could request a referendum. After alderman B.J. Day made the motion to continue use of the cameras with regular reports to the council, council member Dana Woods invited further discussion individually. The motion passed unanimously.

Also at the meeting, the council:

• appointed Kristi Manzanares to the city’s water advisory board to replace Jim Bullard.

• approved street work expenditures as follows: North Bayou Drive – $33,400 to Trico, $42,766.06 and $27,222.81 to Atlas Asphalt; Blanchard Avenue – $22,850 to Trico and $22,350 to Atlas Asphalt.

• approved removal of 1981 Ford F700 from the fire department inventory. The truck has been replaced.

• received information for further study regarding a collector system for water meter data. Water Supt. Keith Johnson said the city would need five devices to cover a majority of the town at a cost equivalent to $1.25 per meter.

• approved the reimbursement of $9,257.46 from the water department capital repair/replacement fund to the operation and maintenance fund for recent purchases paid from the wrong account.

• approved expenditure of $8,970 for three touch screen controls for the water treatment plant.

• agreed Johnson should pay a requested installment for the ongoing control panel project if Johnson thinks the contractor has met the goal for that stage.

• heard from Johnson that the rate study is still not complete. The state-imposed deadline is at the end of the month.

• discussed the street light project on West Main Street remains unfinished.