If you have spent any time driving in our region, you may have had your vehicle scanned by something called an Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR). The device that scanned your plate may have been made by a company called Flock Safety. Some people are trying to change that.
On Wednesday, the city of Ithaca voted to end its contract with Flock.
WSKG’s Ithaca area reporter Aurora Berry spoke with WSKG News Director Phoebe Taylor-Vuolo about the vote.
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
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Phoebe Taylor-Vuolo: Tell me about this resolution.
Aurora Berry: The council was voting on whether to cut ties with a company called Flock Safety. That’s the company that the city of Ithaca has been getting its ALPRs from.
The company markets the cameras as being able to capture a car’s “fingerprint.” What that means is that it scans the license plate number, but also records things like car color, dents and even bumper stickers. That information then goes into a searchable database. Some choose to share that data nationally, while others choose to share it with just a few police stations or agencies.
PTV: And who does Ithaca share their data with?
AB: The Ithaca Police Department says they share that data with neighboring Tompkins County police departments, state police, New York state’s Crime Analysis Center Network and the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office.
The vote ended up passing unanimously, actually. That makes Ithaca the latest city to sever ties with Flock Safety.
The company has been the subject of a lot of backlash lately, Phoebe, both nationally and in Ithaca.
PTV: Yeah, you’ve reported on some anti-Flock activism in your area previously. What are those activists saying?
AB: The group of activists that are pushing for this in my coverage area go by the name “Flock Off Ithaca.” They held a rally outside of city hall Wednesday before the vote, and I had a chance to talk to a couple of folks.
Some talked about concerns over privacy, possible data sharing with federal agencies, and incidents where Flock has been used to harass private citizens, or for immigration enforcement.
Ann Johnson was one of the activists there yesterday. She is an Ithaca resident and this is what she had to say about Flock cameras:
“It felt like I was being treated as a criminal, that somehow the police had to keep an eye on where I was driving. And it just felt extremely wrong to me, just wrong in the bones of my body. And so I've just been working against the Flock cameras ever since.”
PTV: So what does law enforcement say about all this?
AB: Law enforcement in our area have defended the contract. Ithaca Police Chief Thomas Kelly has spoken in favor of the cameras, both at a county legislature meeting last year and Wednesday.
He acknowledged that some departments that use the cameras have “screwed up.” But he also had this to say:
“What keeps me up is not being able to do my job, and it's not being able to have the resources to accomplish that.”
PTV: So why did the council end up voting to cut this contract?
AB: Some alderpersons went out of their way to say the decision wasn’t about the Ithaca Police Department, but Flock Safety itself.
Nationwide, Flock has been used in immigration enforcement and by other federal agencies. That often comes from departments willingly sharing their data. However, there are some reported incidents of police departments and municipalities discovering that their data has been pulled, and they realize that it was happening.
Ithaca’s a sanctuary city, so some see the potential for even involuntary cooperation with ICE as antithetical to the city’s values.
At the end of the day, Phoebe, it seems like the council decided it just doesn’t trust this company. Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo also said he was worried about the current federal administration:
“I am deeply concerned that taking away a tool could have a negative impact on our community. I also know that I do not trust this administration, at the federal government, to follow the law. They're murdering people.
The council also amended the resolution to instruct the city’s legal team to cancel the contract in a way that’s consistent with the city’s agreements with other municipalities and its obligations under the grant that paid for the cameras.
PTV: So is this the end of Flock in your area?
AB: Certainly not. The county still has a contract with Flock, although it looks like they’re maybe reexamining their policies around that. Also, many of the nearby villages, towns, other cities, even universities in this area have Flock cameras.
This company also sells products to private customers like homeowners associations, businesses and schools.
Although these cameras are kind of all over the place, there is a movement to get them taken down. Multiple cities have either paused their contracts, switched providers or canceled their contracts outright, often for the same reasons that we saw here in Ithaca.
PTV: Well I’m sure we’ll hear from you again, thank you so much for being here Aurora.
AB: Thank you.
In a statement to WSKG, a spokesperson for Flock Safety said the technology had helped the Ithaca Police Department solve crimes and warned removing it would result in “real consequences.”
The spokesperson added “while we value our strong working relationship with the Ithaca Police Department, Flock directly contacted the Mayor and each of the ten members of the Common Council to request meetings and address concerns. No member of the Council chose to engage in a substantive, fact-based discussion before voting to remove technology that impacts public safety.
The Common Council introduced a resolution that contained misinformation about Flock’s technology, and passed it the same night. The timeline left no meaningful opportunity for community members to engage in a discussion on the resolution.”
