Lynnwood’s experiment with automated license-plate readers is officially over. On Monday night, the City Council voted to cut ties with Flock Safety and ordered all of the company’s cameras taken down, capping months of debate over privacy and police tech. The devices have already been offline since October, when police pulled the plug after learning outside agencies could run searches on the system.
Council pulls plug after months of debate
In a 7-0 vote, councilmembers moved to terminate the two-year contract that brought 25 Flock cameras to Lynnwood last summer, according to The Daily Herald. The pilot program was largely paid for with a grant from the Washington Auto Theft Prevention Authority, with the city contributing about $38,000 toward the roughly $171,000 agreement, reporting by the Lynnwood Times shows.
Police say cameras were delivering solid leads
Police Chief Cole Langdon told councilmembers the Flock network had been generating a steady stream of investigative tips while it was active, averaging about 66 alerts a month and helping officers recover stolen vehicles and find missing people, according to the Lynnwood Police Department. Langdon said he suspended the program on October 30 after auditors and staff realized that access to Lynnwood’s data extended beyond what the city had intended.
UW report flags federal and out-of-state access
A report by the University of Washington Center for Human Rights concluded that Border Patrol and other federal agencies had ways to query Flock networks in Washington, raising questions about whether local agencies were staying within state rules, according to the University of Washington Center for Human Rights. Subsequent local reporting found that out-of-state agencies conducted more than 100,000 searches of Lynnwood’s network in a relatively short period, including at least 16 searches tied to immigration enforcement, The Daily Herald reported.
Residents blast privacy risks and immigration fears
Dozens of residents urged the council to walk away from Flock, warning that the cameras were as much a civil liberties problem as a crime-fighting tool. Speakers said the system could quietly log everyday errands and commutes, or be tapped for immigration enforcement, concerns that were sharpened by the revelation of outside access. One community organizer pointed out that the network “doesn’t run through a network we control,” and called on the council to act, FOX 13 Seattle reported.
Immediate removal plan
Councilmember Isabel Mata, who brought forward the motion, made clear there would be no slow fade-out. “The contract has been canceled,” she said, adding that staff would “cover up the cameras with something like a tarp and garbage bag” before crews take them down, according to FOX 13 Seattle. City officials said staff will work with the city attorney on the nuts and bolts of ending the agreement, including any remaining costs and how to handle records and audit requests tied to the system.
Legislative backdrop: push for a Driver Privacy Act
The local fight over license-plate readers is unfolding as state lawmakers work on new rules for the technology. An engrossed substitute version of Senate Bill 6002 would establish driver-privacy protections, restrict how data can be shared, and set retention and audit standards for license-plate information, according to the Washington State Legislature. Debate over SB 6002 and related House proposals has already prompted other Washington cities to pause or revisit their own Flock contracts while they review audit logs and data-sharing settings, KIRO 7 reported.
Legal and policy fault lines
The controversy also brushes up against the state’s Keep Washington Working Act, which restricts how local agencies can participate in civil immigration enforcement and could expose departments to liability if their data is used by federal authorities, the Washington State Attorney General explains. Researchers at the University of Washington Center for Human Rights argue that audit logs from Flock systems show systemic transparency gaps that they say will need to be closed through clearer policies or new statutes.
What residents should expect next
City staff now plan to assemble a report detailing how the contract termination will work, what it will cost, and how public-records obligations tied to the program will be handled. Once the cameras are covered, crews are expected to remove the devices from around the city. The way the pilot was funded, mostly through a Washington Auto Theft Prevention Authority grant with about $38,000 in city money, was highlighted when the program was first approved and will be part of the city’s post-mortem review, the Lynnwood Times reported.
