Mayor Alyia Gaskins told city leaders on Tuesday that she does not “see a role for Flock” cameras in Alexandria.
At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, two City Council members joined Gaskins in the sentiment after a presentation by Police Chief Tarrick McGuire on license plate reader (LPR) technology used in the city. The Alexandria Police Department has 61 license plate readers and other cameras along public roadways, according to Flock’s transparency portal.
Gaskins said that the cameras have performed a public safety function, but that didn’t mean the city contract had to continue.
“I do think there’s a role for technology, and I do think we have seen the role that has [taken] place and the benefit it has,” Gaskins said. “I do not think there’s a role for Flock in this community.”
Privacy concerns have been raised against the cameras, and in one instance an Alexandria man allegedly destroyed multiple cameras in the city with a baseball bat, only to be identified by a Flock camera and later arrested. In Virginia, Flock data can only be shared between local and state law enforcement agencies, creating concern that Alexandria’s data could be shared via another jurisdiction.
Alison O’Connell, a former City Council candidate, recently co-founded the group DeFlock ALX.
“We do not have to live with our rights being violated in this way, and we don’t have to live with our neighbors being fearful of being tracked by the state,” O’Connell told ALXnow. “The federal government can subpoena this information. Virginia law does not prohibit them from doing that.”
DeFlock ALX is holding a community meeting on Sept. 14.
McGuire defended his department’s use of the cameras, and said that he would return to City Council with answers to their questions. He said that, except for active investigations, all data collected from the 61 Flock cameras around the city is purged after 21 days and can’t be accessed by any federal law enforcement agency. McGuire said that only trained APD personnel can access the Flock camera database, that the system can only be used for a specific law enforcement-related reason and that staff audit the system monthly.
“We do not share any information with ICE as it relates to LPRs, nor [does] the state law allow us to do so,” he said.
Alexandria’s contract with Flock started in 2023, and can be terminated any time, McGuire said.
“At the heart of this situation, we know that there has been national commentary associated with the vendor,” he said. “Bottom line for me is that I want our community to be safe.”
City Councilwoman Sandy Marks said that the city needs a comprehensive report on the program with a map of camera locations in the city.
“I’m interested also in getting Flock out of Alexandria,” Marks said. “We have a lot of people here who are in political disagreement with our federal government. We have a lot of agency heads, judges, people in Alexandria who I would like to be able to protect by having somebody from your department in your office make a decision about whether or not that access is given and that search is run.”
Marks added, “I’d like to understand what happens if we don’t agree to a search like that. I’d like to make sure that you know women seeking abortions from other states aren’t able to be tracked down, and undocumented people aren’t being able to be tracked down through our services without submitting, Alexandria agreeing, that it’s a lawful search.”
McGuire said he talked to area police chiefs, fellow APD officers and members of the community about the cameras.
“As leaders, our responsibility is not to choose between public safety and civil liberties,” McGuire said. “The Constitution does not ask us to sacrifice one for another.”
City Manager Jim Parajon said that the city needs to understand how and where to use Flock cameras.
“I think tonight is really about having a conversation of how do we utilize that technology,” Parajon told Council. “Where are we moving in the direction that really addresses and looks at conversation and some of the key guiding principles that the city has as it relates to the rights of all, the protection of all, the ability for us to make sure that privacy concerns are paramount, as well as making sure that our community is safe for all.”
