Police Chief Dan McIlraith said the seven Flock Safety cameras that went live in Sedro-Woolley in March were disabled in June.
“The system is currently disabled and not collecting any data,” McIlraith said. “They are still out there, but they are not on.”
According to court records, the Sedro-Woolley Police Department received a public records request on May 29 for data logs and images created by the Flock Safety cameras from 5 to 5:30 p.m. on May 5.
Sedro-Woolley and the city of Stanwood, which had a similar public records request from the same person, are asking a Skagit County Superior Court judge to determine if what was requested is subject to the state Public Records Act.
In a motion for declaratory judgment file July 16, lawyers for the two cities wrote, “The Cities respectfully request the Court issue a Declaratory Judgment that the data and images stored in the Flock AWS Cloud system are not public records unless and until a public agency accesses the particular data.”
A hearing on the motion is scheduled for Nov. 6.
The city of Mount Vernon, which has six Flock Safety cameras, is continuing to use its cameras.
THE VALUE OF THE CAMERAS
The cities of Sedro-Woolley and Mount Vernon still believe in the value of the Flock cameras, which are touted as being able to aid law enforcement in identifying vehicles associated with suspects, witnesses or victims of crimes.
The cameras record vehicle data, including license plate information as well as vehicle descriptors such as type, make and color along with other identifiers, including bumper stickers.
In the short time they were used by the Sedro-Woolley Police Department, they proved beneficial.
“Right off the bat, Whatcom County had a robbery and it was entered into the system and as soon as (the suspects) came into town, we were able to arrest them for theft,” McIlraith said. “We also located a missing person from Sammamish who was suffering from Alzheimer’s and had made it to Sedro-Woolley, so we got a hit on the plate and then we were able to perform caretaking of the individual and get him back where he belonged.”
Mount Vernon Police Chief Dan Christman said that his city’s Flock cameras have aided in solving a couple cases involving stolen vehicles.
He said that in the case of a missing person, the Flock cameras would be especially helpful.
In times of tighter city budgets, the cameras have added value.
Mount Vernon paid $38,550 for the installation of its six cameras and pay a yearly fee to Flock Safety of about $18,000.
“If you put it side by side, it’s $18,000 (a year) for six cameras versus somewhere between $140,000 and $160,000 (for an officer) with salary and benefits and screening and equipment and uniforms and everything that goes along with a single body,” Christman said. “So cost wise, I feel like we’re being fiscally responsible.”
Sedro-Woolley signed a two-year contract with Flock for $44,548.
Despite his Flock cameras not being in use, McIlraith still believes in what they offer his city.
“We believe this program is beneficial to our town,” McIlraith said. “It provides a great ability to solve crimes when you wouldn’t otherwise.”
Christman said some residents may have concerns regarding their photo being captured by Flock cameras. He said that the cameras don’t use facial recognition and solely capture images of license plates and the car.
“One of the really big fears in our community right now is biometrics and facial recognition software… (It’s) just a camera that takes a picture of a vehicle,” Christman said.
And Flock data is not shared with federal agencies for immigration enforcement.
The Keep Washington Working Act is a state law that “restricts the extent to which local law enforcement agencies may participate in the enforcement of federal immigration laws.”
Christman said he and his staff stand by that law.
Mount Vernon Police Department Lt. David Shackleton said, “That’s not something we do. That’s the job of the federal government.”
The data recorded by Flock cameras is only accessed during an investigation and is deleted after 30 days, Christman said.
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