Is Flock a Trustworthy Company?

It is easy to understand why Mayor Gaskins believes there is not "a role for Flock in this community."

Flock ALPR cameras are used in ways that do not align with Alexandria policy or values. This includes:

- Assisting ICE's immigration efforts;

- Stalking innocent civilians, including ex-romantic partners;

- Tracking individual's abortion access decisions;

- Monitoring public protests.

Moreover, guardrails that claim to prevent such conduct have repeatedly surfaced as inadequate:

On "no ICE or federal access" arguments: Flock denied immigration agents had data access until it was forced to admit an undisclosed CBP pilot program gave federal agents direct access. The ACLU's review documents this as part of a broader pattern it calls "Flock Safety Credibility Lost" — cities being told one thing about federal access and finding out another.

On "no sharing outside permitted entities" claims: Flock systems have been vulnerable to bugs that let outside agencies query data a city had explicitly walled off. In Oxnard, CA, this spurred suspension of city Flock cameras.

Flock was found to have violated state statute sharing prohibitions n Illinois, prohibitions which are comparable to Virginia's ALPR statute.

On "Misuse audits will catch potential abuse" marketing: Audits of networked ALPR sharing have not stopped dozens of officers from exploiting ALPRs for improper purposes, as reported by a Washington Post investigation, including using misleading search justifications with minimal oversight.

When alarmed cities cancel Flock's contracts, Flock has not always respected municipal decisions. Flock, instead, has ignored requests to shut off and remove ALPR cameras in a timely manner.

We remain very concerned that despite Flock's clear record of broken governance and questionable corporate practices the city has not immediately canceled Flock's contract. A vendor this compromised shouldn't still have the keys to our city's sensitive data.