The Berkeley City Council recently voted to extend its contract with security company Flock Safety for the use of its automated license plate reader cameras, but decided against adding drones, security cameras, and investigative software to the city’s surveillance infrastructure.
Police departments use ALPR cameras to investigate crimes like stolen vehicles. However, privacy watchdogs have raised concerns about federal agencies being able to access the camera data — a potential violation of state law — and using it for targeted surveillance of immigrants and other vulnerable groups.
Berkeley’s contract with Flock Safety for its 52 ALPR cameras was set to expire this July. To continue access to these cameras, the Berkeley Police Department brought forth a proposal requesting a two-year renewal with Flock Safety, with an option for an additional two-year extension.
The proposal had also included the addition of 16 pan-tilt-zoom cameras that do not record license plates but are used for police investigations, drones that can be deployed as first responders to gather information, the integration of privately owned security cameras into the Flock surveillance network, and investigative software, all sold by Flock Safety.
Altogether, the proposed expansion would cost around $2 million.
But at a special meeting Thursday, in a close 5-4 vote, the City Council only extended the city’s contract with Flock Safety for its ALPR cameras for one year, starting July, at a cost of $200,000.
Desire for more deliberation
Citing the need for more deliberation, the council decided against contracting with Flock Safety for the pan-tilt-zoom cameras, drones, or investigative software and requested the city staff to initiate a new bidding process for the same.
In March, councilmembers heard from the Police Department, Berkeley’s civilian Police Accountability Board, and members of the public about the proposal.
In that meeting, Police Chief Jen Louis said that the expansion would allow the department to solve cases faster, but the Police Accountability Board raised questions about the Police Department’s procurement process and cautioned against rushing into a contract.
In a close 5-4 vote, the City Council only extended Berkeley’s contract with Flock Safety for its ALPR cameras for one year, at a cost of $200,000.
In the three-hour public comment that followed, an overwhelming majority of the speakers opposed the proposal. Eventually, the council deferred voting on the proposal.
Over the last few months, many Bay Area cities and counties have been re-examining their contracts with Flock Safety, considering the federal administration’s crackdown on immigrants and the company’s checkered record of sharing ALPR data with federal agencies like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The city councils of Santa Cruz, Mountain View, and Los Altos Hills have terminated their respective contracts with Flock Safety, citing privacy concerns, and the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors also voted to adopt a new surveillance use policy that prohibits the county Sheriff’s Office from contracting with Flock Safety as a vendor for ALPR cameras.
Last week, the El Cerrito City Council also canceled its contract with Flock Safety.
Berkeley follows Oakland and Richmond
However, in December, the Oakland City Council voted to approve its Police Department’s proposal to expand its Flock surveillance network, citing its importance for public safety. In March, the Richmond City Council also extended its contract with Flock Safety after a close 4-3 vote for similar reasons as in Oakland.
At Thursday’s meeting in Berkeley, three more hours of public comment followed, during which all but a few speakers expressed strong opposition to a contract with Flock Safety.
Councilmembers Terry Taplin, Rashi Kesarwani, Shoshana O’Keefe, Brent Blackaby, and Mark Humbert opined that despite concerns about surveillance, the cameras were essential for public safety and voted to extend the contract.
Mayor Adena Ishii and Councilmembers Igor Tregub, Cecilia Lunaparra, and Ben Bartlett voted against the extension, saying that the risks outweighed the potential benefits to police.
“I understand these tools have helped solve a number of different cases,” said Ishii, “but at the end of the day, I just don’t trust Flock, and I don’t trust our current federal administration.”