RICHMOND — Months after shutting down most of its Flock Safety cameras due to privacy concerns, Richmond officials must now decide whether or not to give the company a second chance, a divisive issue in the community.
Richmond’s partnership with Flock, one of the nation’s largest surveillance technology companies, has grown steadily since 2023, culminating in a $2 million contract and more than 150 cameras installed throughout the city.
Most of those cameras have been disabled since October, a decision Police Chief Tim Simmons said he made after learning the program has a “national” feature that allows any agency using the Flock program to access city data by searching a full license plate number.
“My priorities have always been clear: protecting the safety of citizens, improving the quality of life in our communities, and ensuring that everyone who lives in and visits Richmond can do so safely and confidently,” Simmons said.
Some Bay Area municipalities have canceled their contracts with Flock in part because of data security concerns or are in the process of reviewing the relationship, including Mountain View, Santa Clara County, San Jose, and Alameda County.
There is no evidence that the city’s data was accessed by third parties, Simmons said. The national tracking feature was disabled by the California company and data-sharing relationships initiated within or outside the state are now prohibited, Simmons said.
Simmons acknowledged that they are truly concerned about Flock, when he asked the City Council on Tuesday to consider extending the contract in December with the option of turning on or off the reading plates.
Simmons said the company has agreed to a new contract term that will force Flock to pay $290,000 in fines for any unauthorized data disclosures.
“I strongly believe there is a way forward where we can protect our citizens from physical harm while protecting their privacy and protecting against emotional harm and mistrust. Public safety and civil liberties are not separate concepts. In fact, they must coexist if we want to maintain the basic trust of police officers,” Simmons said.
Three types of Flock camera systems are used in Richmond: 96 automatic license plate readers, which take pictures of vehicles; 65 closed circuit televisions, fixed surveillance camera system; and drones that provide aerial access during emergencies.
Automatic license plate readers have been disabled for months, and closed-circuit televisions remain online because the system is on a closed network that requires data to be sent internationally, Simmons said.
Extending the contract in December will not come with additional costs, Simmons said.
Dozens of community members spoke passionately about their support or concerns about the city’s partnership with Flock during Tuesday’s meeting.
Supporters, including mayoral candidate Ahmad Anderson and Jamin Pursell, who is running for Council District 4, say the council should give the police department the tools it needs to prevent crime.
Speakers cited data presented by Simmons showing that carjackings have increased nearly 30% since license plate readers were disabled in November. Simmons also said that it is believed that the victim of trafficking is at home and would have been found now if the Department had been able to fully participate in this process.
“Criminals know that cameras are down and people who commit crimes pay attention to these decisions even if this council doesn’t,” said Ben Therriault, president of the Richmond Police Officers Association, the union that represents sworn employees. “These cameras don’t replace the police. They give us clues and more importantly, they give victims answers.”
Opponents, on the other hand, argue that the city should not have a contract with the company at all, regardless of whether strong data protection is implemented. The main concern is that the company’s product is being used to assist with federal immigration operations.
“You can’t say you don’t support ICE and you support the herd,” said Richmond resident Ryan Kazen, who has noticed his car has been broken into multiple times. “Although Flock will not be abused in our city, he is abused somewhere else.”
No decision was made on Tuesday because time ran out. Council meetings have come to a halt at 11pm and efforts to continue the meeting until Wednesday have failed. This matter is expected to come up again at the next meeting of this council in two weeks.
But others in the council voiced their opinions before the adjournment.
Mayor Eduardo Martinez said the company cannot be trusted, sharing concerns that the system could be used to track abortion seekers or transgender people in states such as Kansas where a law was recently passed banning driver’s licenses with gender markings that do not match the one given at birth.
Councilors Cesar Zepeda and Jamelia Brown said the matter cannot wait, both pointing to the case of the trafficked girl.
“We have a young person who has been trafficked and his phone is ringing in our town and this is what we chose to do,” said Brown. “So I want you to stay for your good night.”
