City of Alexandria to shut down all Flock cameras after privacy concerns and backlash
Dumfries to hold meeting on Flock camera rollout
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The City of Alexandria will shut down all 61 of its Flock license plate reader cameras by Friday, Oct. 30, after months of public backlash and nationwide privacy concerns.
What we know:
During a Wednesday meeting with city leaders, Alexandria Police Chief Tarrick McGuire announced that Flock Safety has been officially notified of the city's decision to discontinue the program.
"I anticipate by this Friday that the [Alexandria License Plate Reader] cameras should be deactivated," McGuire said.
Once disabled, no new license plate reads will occur.
The Alexandria Police Department will conduct an internal self-audit on Nov. 2 to confirm the cameras are no longer reading plates. The department will retain data tied to active investigations to preserve evidentiary value, while ensuring all user access is completely disabled by Dec. 1.
Dig deeper:
While the poles holding the cameras are leased, the cameras themselves are owned by the city. Officials plan to have all 61 cameras completely removed by December.
READ MORE | Alexandria shares map of all Flock camera locations amid privacy concerns
Police previously touted the Flock cameras, noting that they helped lead to 72 felony and 65 misdemeanor charges over the past year.
McGuire emphasized that the department must close out ongoing cases to protect their evidentiary integrity while validating that all camera systems are fully powered down.
Guidance for surveillance technology
Moving forward, any future surveillance technology will require explicit approval from the city council. During a legislative meeting scheduled for Nov. 10, city leaders plan to establish formal guidance and oversight frameworks before considering any similar tools.
"Some of those principles are guided by public transparency and government oversight," City Manager James Parajon said. "Any use or deployment or decision on technology, there will be a community engagement process that we will work on and provide to you on the 10th."
READ MORE | Latest MapQuest update reveals automated license plate reader networks
Parajon outlined the core pillars expected to guide future surveillance decisions.
"Some potential guiding principles are really in the categories of oversight, audits, transparency, and community engagement, and city ownership of data. So it's really a full decision process. No technology would be deployed without both the resolution and then the process [of] the council."
The Source: Information in this article is from an Alexandria City Council meeting and previous FOX 5 DC reporting.