Supervisors pause new Flock cameras
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has directed the Police Department to pause the installation of any new automated license plate readers from Flock Safety.
The Board Matter approved by the BoS on Sept. 15 calls for the board’s Safety and Security Committee to discuss the use of Flock ALPRs at its Oct. 20 meeting.
Local governments throughout the country have canceled their contracts with Flock Safety due to concerns from the public about privacy. The Arlington County Board voted on Sept. 15 to take down all Flock Safety equipment. In Alexandria, Mayor Aliya Gaskins has stated she wants the city to stop using the technology.
While the Flock cameras have helped police departments catch suspects and find stolen vehicles, they have also been used to support ICE actions against immigrants and surveil protestors. In some cases, police officers have used the technology to stalk former romantic partners.
Even when a jurisdiction establishes strict guidelines on the use of Flock ALPRs, the data is shared with other localities that don’t have accountability measures in place.
Related story: DeFlock Fairfax wants FCPD to take down its license plate readers
Fairfax County Board Chair Jeffrey McKay said that while data from FCPD’s Flock ALPRs are permanently deleted after 21 days, that’s not the case in other places. According to DeFlock Fairfax, the police department shares its Flock data with over 160 other agencies.
The Fairfax County Police Department says license plate technology is an effective law enforcement tool, and strong guardrails are in place to protect the public. FCPD operates 84 Flock cameras, as well as 712 Axon Fleet cameras installed on police cruisers.
Between Nov. 1, 2022, and Sept. 4, 2026, the FCPD says LPRs have led to the arrest of 912 individuals and the recovery of 555 vehicles, 66 guns, and 57 missing persons.
McKay noted that the conversation about the county’s use of ALPRs should also include the use of the technology by private entities, such as homeowner associations and commercial property owners.
The BoS is sending a draft letter to Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley seeking information on how the company is using data from ALPRs. Among other questions, the draft letter asks the company who owns, controls, and can access Fairfax County data; how interstate legal conflicts are prevented; and what Flock’s AI and advanced searches can actually do.
The latest technology from Flock uses AI to identify and track individuals and vehicles through their pattern of movement through a network of cameras in 6,000 communities, according to an article in Wired cited by Supervisor Jimmy Bierman (Dranesville). “This has gone a lot farther than simply tracking license plates,” he said.
Supervisor Rodney Lusk (Franconia) agreed that strong guardrails are needed but said, “We have to look at this from both sides.” Without this technology, “there might be a number of crimes that we would not have been able to solve.” While visiting the FCPD Real Time Crime Center, he saw how data from a Flock ALPR enabled the police to quickly recover a Fairfax County resident’s stolen car, along with her dog and purse.
It’s a difficult issue, acknowledged Supervisor Walter Alcorn (Hunter Mill). “We’re entering into a world where a combination of digital feeds from cameras and AI opens up incredible potential for law enforcement, legitimate law enforcement, but it also opens up incredible potential for abuse.”