LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass weighed in on a possible contract between Flock Safety and the Los Angeles Police Department.
“Flock Safety has lost the trust of Angelenos and residents of other cities across the country, especially in immigrant communities targeted by the federal administration,” Bass said in a statement Thursday. “The LAPD needs to identify another company that doesn’t share data.”
Over a month ago, the Los Angeles Police department announced it had chosen not to renew its contract with the company, which provides automated license plate readers, over data-storage concerns. LAPD later said it was working on a new agreement that would allow the department to retain the data collected.
Last week, City Council member and mayoral candidate Nithya Raman also weighed in, posting online that the city should cut ties “over the risks its license plate readers pose to privacy, civil liberties, and immigrant communities. LAPD is doing the opposite: renegotiating a surveillance network that Angelenos never agreed to.”
Flock’s cameras were built to help investigators find vehicles that were stolen or linked to crimes, but concerns about the tools’ privacy and the security of their data have prompted many communities to cancel or reject contracts.
Flock was previously one of three vendors of automated license plate readers the city used, according the Los Angeles Times. LAPD did not respond to a request for comment.
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