Could Reno Get Deflocked?
While the pre primary oppositional sauce is thick on data centers right now in Reno, even as it may end up being way thinner than many are hoping for, where is the City of Reno’s responsiveness to growing demands to deflock and get rid of our local Flock cameras creating networked license plate surveillance?
Several local change.org petitions, one we promoted just a few days ago called “Ban Unwarranted Police Drone and Flock Camera Surveillance in Reno and Washoe County,” and a previous one called Flock Off Reno, have garnered hundreds of signatures, opposing ongoing contracts with the Atlanta-based technology company.
“Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs or LPRs) are AI-powered cameras that capture and analyze images of all passing vehicles, storing details like your car’s location, date, and time. They also capture your car’s make, model, color, and identifying features such as dents, roof racks, and bumper stickers, often turning these into searchable data points,” the deflock.org website indicates.
“These cameras collect data on millions of vehicles regardless of whether the driver is suspected of a crime. These systems are marketed as indispensable tools to fight crime, but they ignore the powerful tools police already have to track criminals, such as cell phone location data, creating a loophole that doesn’t require a warrant.”
Under similar pressure from local residents, other cities across the country are starting to cancel their own contracts due to mass surveillance concerns as well as findings of Flock database searches on behalf of federal agencies.
Appleton, Wisconsin, canceled it own contract just a few weeks ago with the mayor there stating “concerns about the integrity of Flock’s underlying system have eroded our trust.”
Bloomington, Indiana, terminated its contract with Flock Safety last month after hundreds of residents there stormed City Hall as part of an anti-Flock protest.
“City Council approved the allocation of $450,000 in Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) received through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to improve public safety through enhanced technological infrastructure utilizing Flock Safety gunshot detection and surveillance systems,” Reno announced in late 2024, marking the beginning of its own usage of this networked digital surveillance system.
The Flock Transparency Portal notes the Reno Police Department is operating 45 Flock cameras, with Sparks having 47, and Storey County seven.
The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office has its own documents indicating it uses automated license plate reader technology.
“Due to the severe risk to our democratic rights, we are demanding that City of Reno, City of Sparks, and Washoe County: Turn off all active contracted Flock cameras immediately; Terminate their contracts with Flock Safety and remove the cameras, giving 30 days’ notice to Flock Safety as soon as possible; Pass regulation to ban ALPRs in Reno, Sparks, and Washoe County; Schedule robust, well-publicized public meetings to discuss other forms of camera and AI surveillance being used throughout Reno, Sparks, and Washoe County, and whether they have a place in our community. This includes drones, private security cameras accessible without a warrant, and AI technology supporting camera and other types of surveillance,” the flock off petition wrote as part of its writeup.
The deflock.org website indicates 68 cities have so far rejected ALPRs. Could Reno be 69?
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