Overview
- South Portland withdrew a $4,000 request for an additional Flock Safety camera and pulled a contract renewal, with a public workshop to review use of automated license-plate readers now planned.
- The city’s seven existing Flock cameras will keep running under its current agreement, which remains in force through June 4, 2027.
- In Berkeley, the City Council voted 5-4 to extend Flock’s license-plate reader contract for one year at $200,000 and rejected proposals for drones, pan-tilt-zoom cameras, and investigative software from the same vendor.
- Police and Flock say the cameras help find stolen cars and suspects, with the company claiming its system helps locate roughly one missing person per day, while civil liberties groups warn the dragnet logs everyone’s movements and risks unlawful data sharing with immigration agencies.
- Other cities have recently ended or curbed Flock deals, including Santa Cruz, Mountain View, Los Altos Hills, and El Cerrito, and San Marcos, Texas, voted to let its contract lapse, underscoring a patchwork response to a company operating tens of thousands of cameras nationwide.