Arlington County to remove Flock cameras, end contract with company
Dumfries to hold meeting on Flock camera rollout
ARLINGTON, Va. - The Arlington County board voted to remove Flock cameras within two weeks and end its contract with the company as the debate over the cameras continues across the country.
What we know:
There are more than 41 Flock cameras in Arlington, and there have been for several years.
The latest decision means the cameras will come down within 14 days. The tech will be cut immediately and will no longer record or store data.
After months of hearing concerns from residents, Arlington leaders said this was the right move.
The county will continue to use its red light cameras and speed cameras in school zones.
"I think Arlingtonians get that those serve a purpose that is far less invasive than this technology and raises less concerns, so I think we're solid with those," said Arlington County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti.
The board voted Tuesday to end the use of Flock cameras leased by the county on public property. That includes 26 Falcon License Plate Readers and 15 Condor Cameras that could point, tilt and zoom.
County leaders said a one-year contract with Flock was coming to an end, though the cameras have been up for longer.
Board Chair de Ferranti said they value police in the community over the surveillance cameras, and in the last budget, they invested $5 million to increase starting salaries for officers.
FOX 5 has reached out to Arlington Police for a response, but has not heard back.
What they're saying:
The ACLU of Virginia and the group De-Flock are applauding Arlington’s decision and hoping other communities follow suit.
"It’s fantastic to see from our point of view, but communities across Virginia are saying no to mass surveillance. Big, small, liberal and conservative, people are saying we're fed up; we didn't ask to be watched every moment," said Chris Kaiser, Policy Director at ACLU of Virginia.
"We want to give them credit; they did the right thing, yay, and we want to ask for more because we need to get rid of these technologies for the future as well," said member of De-Flock, Eric Lotke.
The group is looking for a ban on any future use of similar technologies or a switch to a different automated license plate reader company.
Similar debates over Flock cameras are continuing to play out across Northern Virginia.
The Source: Information in this article is from the Arlington County Board.