Fairfax County committee reviews Flock camera program

FAIRFAX, Va. - A Fairfax County committee will review the county's license plate reader program on Tuesday amid ongoing community concerns over privacy, data security, and information sharing.

The Fairfax County Police Department has used automated license plate readers for years, incorporating Flock technology in 2022, and credits the systems with helping solve crimes. The department currently operates 84 Flock cameras and 714 Axon vehicle-mounted systems, alongside more than 120 privately owned cameras.

Police highlight significant successes with the technology, including the arrest of armed robbery suspects, the recovery of stolen goods from organized retail theft, and the retrieval of 573 stolen vehicles and 67 guns. The systems have also helped locate 60 missing people and contributed to 161 narcotics cases.

In response to public concerns, police have reduced data retention to 21 days and cut the number of personnel authorized to access the system from 821 to 286.

The department is considering three options moving forward: maintaining the current program while evaluating vendors and data sharing, maintaining the program while testing alternatives, or creating a closed county network that ends outside data sharing and undergoes re-evaluation in a year. Police caution that a closed network would limit their ability to solve crimes across jurisdictions.

Regardless of the changes, police would maintain voluntary access to privately owned cameras. Virginia law prohibits sharing data with agencies outside the commonwealth, including immigration enforcement, addressing one of the primary community concerns.

Any proposed changes following Tuesday afternoon's 1:30 p.m. committee meeting must be approved by the full Board of Supervisors.