The Salida Police Department is pulling the plug on Flock Safety’s automated license plate reader system, ending a contract with the controversial surveillance company amid mounting community concerns.
The department, southwest of Denver, announced Thursday that the decision followed lengthy public and internal discussions.
While police said the cameras have been a useful investigative tool in many situations, concerns around privacy, data retention, access to information and inappropriate use of the technology with the Flock system ultimately outweighed those benefits.
“We recognize that the use of technology in public safety must be balanced with the privacy, civil liberties, and concerns of the people we serve — we feel that canceling the contract is the appropriate decision at this time,” Salida Police Chief Russ Johnson said in a Thursday afternoon.
Johnson said ending the contract will not change the departmentap commitment to investigating crime or protecting the community. Officers will continue using other investigative tools and resources to address public safety concerns.
The move comes as communities across Colorado and elsewhere reconsider the use of Flock’s technology.
More than 50 agencies or jurisdictions have a contract or deactivated their cameras since the beginning of the year, according to a tracker maintained by DeFlock, a grassroots group formed to track the use of license plate reader technology and push back against it.
Denver ended its relationship with Flock in March, approving a new $150,000 one-year contract with Axon Enterprise for 50 cameras. The city will continue using license plate-reading cameras at up to 20 intersections.
The cameras have also become the target of vandalism. Four of the Summit County Sheriff’s Office’s 30 Flock Safety cameras were vandalized earlier this month, prompting an ongoing investigation. Salida Police Department Commander Rob Martellaro confirmed with Post staff on Friday that the department has recently had at least two to three Flock cameras damaged.
“While we respect and serve the public mandate, we are disappointed to see that someone elected to approach the subject with acts of vandalism to the hardware associated with these cameras,” Johnson said.
“This behavior only cost the taxpayers money, and did nothing to change the policies or use of the LPR system. This type of behavior is never acceptable, regardless of which side of an issue someone stands.”
Salida Police said if anyone has information about the recent damage to Flock cameras, to contact them at 719-539-6880.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
