Olympia council hears privacy concerns about license plate cameras. What’s next?
About a dozen people spoke during the Nov. 18 Olympia City Council meeting against the city’s use of Flock Safety license plate-reading cameras. The council has received numerous concerns after the interim police chief warned of immigration enforcement activity and said those authorities don’t have access to the Flock camera network.
Interim Chief Shelby Parker will give the City Council a briefing on the city’s use of Flock Safety cameras and data protections on Dec. 2.
Assistant City Manager Stacey Ray told The Olympian that there isn’t a meeting planned for the council to make a decision whether to end its Flock contract. She said a contract for the cameras and first 24-months of system use was signed in March of 2024. The system became operational in July of 2024 and this existing contract expires at the end of July 2026.
A Washington State Department of Commerce grant funded the $98,550 cost of the contract. The City’s system includes 15 cameras at six intersections.
Olympia resident Grace Fletcher said at the Nov. 18 meeting that she’s not anti-law enforcement or anti-technology, but she wants to ensure vulnerable members of the community are safe.
“It’s about protecting the members of our community and about the survivors who cannot risk being found by their abuser, the elderly neighbor who lives alone and the families who trust the city will not use their tax dollars to build a surveillance system that can be weaponized against them,” she said.
Fletcher said she’s heard from many of her neighbors who have similar concerns about the safety and privacy implications of Flock cameras in Olympia. A Skagit County Superior Court Judge ruled earlier this month that pictures and information captured on the cameras must be made public in accordance with state law.
“Flock cameras record every vehicle that passes, whether it belongs to a domestic violence survivor trying to stay hidden, a family running errands, or city council member driving home from a meeting,” Fletcher said. “This system captures your plates, the exact place you were in, the precise moment you were there, and now, because of this ruling, an entire trail of your movements. It’s now public information.”
Fletcher said there have already been documented cases across the country of people using the data to track and stalk people. The University of Washington found that the City of Lakewood’s Flock camera data had been accessed by federal agents. The Wichita Eagle reported that the Kansas City police chief used Flock cameras to track his ex-girlfriend. Law enforcement in Texas allegedly used the system to track a woman who had an abortion. The Olympian reached out to Flock Safety for comment and did not immediately receive a response.
A statement from last month on the company’s website said in part: “Flock is committed to helping communities improve public safety while remaining in compliance with their local laws, agency technology policies, and according to their community’s values. An important part of this equation is ensuring that all Flock customers own and control access to their data. Every Flock customer has complete control over their sharing relationships, and Flock never shares customer data without their knowledge or permission.”
Another person who spoke at the Nov. 18 meeting, Kyle Kimball, said that while the data being made publicly accessible is a win for transparency, it raises challenges for municipal governments.
Kimball said he recently filed two public records requests for all Flock data. The City of Olympia returned over 20,000 records, while OPD returned more than 2 million images.
He asked the council if it would prefer to keep its Flock contract, or potentially face liability issues stemming from the inability to meet public records obligations.
“We’re a small city. We have a small clerk’s office,” he said. “Keeping Flock means a tidal wave of public record requests, and with each request, the poor clerks are further behind on responding to other requests. Each failure to provide records in a reasonable time means a motion will be filed to Thurston County Superior Court for judicial review.”
Kimball said if the city moved to end its contract, it would be joining Redmond, Lynwood, Skamania County and other jurisdictions that have already done so. He said in August, a Redmond father was wrongfully arrested because of Flock, and that the impending litigation is going to cost city taxpayers. The City of Hillsborough, North Carolina, also recently ended its contract with the system.
“‘1984’ is far better literature than it is a model for Olympian government,” Kimball said.
Emily Christianson told the council that she’s vehemently opposed to any of their tax dollars being spent on surveilling the community.
“I think that if we’re really interested in investing in public safety, we have to consider the safety of every member of our public, including people who are now afraid to leave their houses, attend their court appearances, buy their groceries because they’re being surveilled, not just by these cameras, but by a wider surveillance network,” she said.
Mike Pelly told the council that his mom grew up in Nazi occupied Holland. He said he grew up hearing stories of her childhood and people disappearing, and that they mirror what he sees happening today. He said the city shouldn’t just shut the camera system down, but get rid of the system and its information entirely.
Jacob Greenwald said at the meeting that the Olympia Police Department’s policy states that Flock data shall not be used for immigration enforcement. He said it’s a very well-meaning policy, but that its effectiveness can’t be guaranteed with Flock’s data sharing and privacy history.
Greenwald said the interim police chief stated that Olympia’s system is closed and cannot be accessed by federal authorities, including immigration and customs enforcement. However, he said he worried that closing the system off won’t adequately prevent the federal government from accessing data.
“A terrifying example is the city of Denver, Colorado. Their mayor stated the same things as Olympia’s interim chief, that the ALPR data was closed off and could not be accessed by the federal government for immigration use,” he said.
Justin Stang told the council that he agreed with the sentiments shared by other speakers regarding the city’s use of Flock cameras. He said he’s been a consistent critic of the system for quite some time, and even though the data hasn’t been accessed or misused to date, that the city shouldn’t wait for trust to be broken before taking action.
Lacey resident Kevin Pestinger said at the meeting that a handful of his Olympia friends had no idea the city had already implemented Flock cameras on the west side.
“It’s very obvious that the general public consensus in Olympia is that this is not something anyone wants,” he said. “I’ve never met anybody who thinks that they’re in favor or support of this.”
Pestinger said his background is in software, and that he’s concerned about the risk of vulnerabilities in the Flock system that could allow someone to find the location of the cameras and of police vehicles online.
Marie Donahue told the council that it’s mistaken if it believes the federal government doesn’t have access to Flock data, since it is public information.
The council responds
Council member Clark Gilman said at the meeting that if a single public records request can yield more than 2 million images, then anyone can access sensitive information. He said he has a lot of learning to do ahead of the Dec. 2 study session.
Council member Robert Vanderpool said he’s had concerns about the Flock system since the city started talking about them two years ago. He said the city may have enacted measures to keep information secure, but that the federal government acts without caring about local law.
Vanderpool said he’s also concerned about private companies using the data from outside the city. He said he’s in support of the council ending its contract with the system.
Mayor Dontae Payne said the situation is evolving, and after what he heard from the public Tuesday night, his thoughts are evolving as well. He said the council needs to have the discussion with the interim police chief on Dec. 2 before it can make any decisions.
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