From Newsgroup: alt.privacy

A group of Pasadena residents are tired of feeling like theyrCOre always
being watched. And they want city officials to do something about it.

Flock cameras rCo attached to poles and other fixtures so authorities can capture license-plate numbers and know where specific vehicles traveled
rCo have spread across the country in the last decade. Cities big and
small have been blanketed with the recognizable black cameras armed with
solar panels.

Then came the controversies.

Agencies have shared Flock data with federal immigration officials, and
some cops have used the cameras to stalk ex-partners. Some residents in Southern California and across the country have called on cities to end
their contracts with Flock, and officials in some communities have
listened.

Activists in Pasadena hope to be the next city to ride that momentum.

Members of Pasadena Privacy have gathered more than 2,700 letters urging
city leaders to cancel a contract with Flock thatrCOs up for renewal next month.

Members like Yadi Younse believe the automated license-plate-reader
cameras infringe on peoplerCOs Fourth Amendment rights.

Younse first joined Pasadena Privacy in 2020 because she worried that
local governments and law enforcement agencies were implementing new technologies before they were well tested. In recent months, sherCOs
noticed more residents getting involved with the organization or
speaking at public meetings because of their concerns with the cameras
sold by Flock.

rCLIrCOm not surprised by the visceral reaction, and IrCOm glad,rCY Younse said.
rCLIrCOve known all along that people do care about privacy, but itrCOs really awesome to see that people are now taking time out of their very, very
busy lives to speak on this issue.rCY

Pasadena police declined to comment on the cityrCOs future with Flock, but
a spokesperson for the city said officials are rCLworking to get the appropriate city and outside representatives to the table via a Public
Safety Committee meeting in the next few months.rCY

Growing concerns, criticism

Over the last decade, law enforcement agencies across the country have
upped their usage of Flock cameras. The license-plate readers are
deployed by more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies and 1,000
businesses nationally, according to the companyrCOs website. The cameras capture images of passing vehicles to gather identifying details such as license plates, makes and models for an agencyrCOs searchable database.

If there are enough Flock cameras in an area, law enforcement can track
someone as they drive throughout a city or region, as data captured by
Flock cameras can be searched by law enforcement agencies in other
cities, said Lauren Bonds, executive director of the National Police Accountability Project, which says it focuses rCLon ending law enforcement overreach and abuse of power.rCY

The camera networks have made it possible for officers to stalk
ex-romantic partners. In Texas, authorities tried to find a woman in
another state who, they said, got a self-administrated abortion; they
said they just wanted to ensure she was OK. Last year, CalMatters
reported on instances in which Los Angeles police and sheriffrCOs
departments in Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties shared
license-plate data with federal officials.

rCLThatrCOs what really puts people on notice that these technologies exist
and that there are these negative implications for the public,rCY Bonds
said.

Flock argues that law enforcement agencies use its license-plate readers
to gather leads and track down missing people, stolen vehicles and
suspect vehicles. Alerts from PasadenarCOs 61 Flock cameras helped recover
30% of vehicles that were stolen in the city last year, totaling about
$700,000 in stolen property, the company said in a statement.

Flock said its cameras rCLcapture point-in-time images of vehicles in
public viewrCY and donrCOt identify people, use facial recognition or gather personal information. The company said it requires a documented reason
for each search of its data, doesnrCOt have agreements with U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, or the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security and allows agencies to control if and how their data
is shared.

rCLAgencies own and control their data, determine whether to share it
through opt-in relationships, and can modify or revoke those
relationships at any time,rCY Flock said in a statment. rCLFlock does not
share data on behalf of customers and never sells customer data.

rCLFlock has no contracts with ICE or any Department of Homeland Security subagency,rCY it said. rCLFlock also offers immigration search filters that agencies can enable to block searches tied to civil immigration
enforcement, and those filters are automatically applied where required
by law.rCY

With growing public scrutiny, Los Angeles police ended their agreetment
for Flock license-plate readers, and other California cities, including
South Pasadena, El Cerrito and Mountain View, have done the same.

Though in Costa Mesa, where a former officer was sentenced to three
years probation in April for using the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System database to allegedly stalk his wife, an ex girlfriend and her new boyfriend, the City Council voted 6-1 to renew a
Flock contract last month.

To address privacy concerns, the council renegotiated Costa MesarCOs
contract to shorten the data-retention period from one year to 45 days.
(A state bill authored by Riverside Democratic Sen. Sabrina Cervantes
aims to limit the retention of such license-plate data to 30 days in
many cases.)

Ahead of an Aug. 11 public forum to discuss concerns related to the license-plate readers, Monterey Park highlighted rCLsuccess stories,rCY
writing that the cameras helped identify and track a suspect vehicle
following the 2023 Star Ballroom mass shooting that killed 11 people,
find a suspect vehicle hours after the killing of an off-duty officer in
Downey in 2022, and track down an elderly man with dementia who was
reported missing; the cameras found his vehicle in Riverside County and
tracked his whereabouts until officers found him in Long Beach.

rCyI wouldnrCOt feel comfortable pursuing this (now)rCO

Pasadena Councilmember Tyron Hampton, also a member of the cityrCOs Public Safety Committee, said he believes the city should remove its network of
Flock cameras and consider other automated-license-plate readers that he
hopes would better protect the communityrCOs privacy.

Technology, he said, can help police solve cases. He cited the arrest of
a couple several years after the shooting death of a 13-year-old boy in Pasadena; police used enhanced surveillance video to find a partial
license plate on a suspect vehicle.

rCLWe have world class events here, and Pasadena is going to continue to
be a safe environment,rCY Hampton said, rCLand werCOre going to continue to
use technology in the safest way that we can.rCY

In cities that have ended their Flock agreements, such as Denver and
Syracuse, New York, officials later inked contracts with Axon to supply license-plate readers. But no matter the company, the same privacy
concerns arise, said Rin Alajaji, associate director of state affairs
for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit centering on digital privacy and free speech.

rCLItrCOs been something that werCOve seen regardless of the vendor,rCY Alajaji said. rCLThere is misuse when governments and police departments have such
a powerful system that they can use at any moment that theyrCOd like to.rCY

Pasadena Privacy members care about public safety, Younse said, but they
also worry the devices threaten their privacy and have too long a
history of misuse to be trusted. For them to be used properly, Younse
said she believes the city would need to have guardrails against
misconduct, public discussions before new technology is purchased, and a position similar to a chief privacy officer to hold other officials accountable.

Despite local policies and California laws meant to prevent federal
officials from accessing police department data, Pasadena Vice Mayor
Jess Rivas said she worries the Trump administration could find ways to
use license-plate data for immigration enforcement or to keep tabs on protesters.

rCLI just donrCOt trust the federal government right now,rCY said Rivas, who also chairs the Public Safety Committee. rCLI wouldnrCOt feel comfortable pursuing this for quite a long time.rCY

https://www.ocregister.com/2026/08/17/could-pasadena-be-the-next-city-to- remove-flock-cameras-activists-hope-so/
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