Redmond City Council votes to keep Flock cameras turned off amid privacy concerns

The City of Redmond’s controversial license plate cameras, known as a Flock camera system, will remain off following Wednesday night’s unanimous vote by the city council.

The 5-0 decision makes official what happened last week, when council members asked the mayor and police chief to deactivate the Flock camera system immediately, citing concerns from the public regarding privacy and system access.

Last week, the police department temporarily shut down the city’s Flock license plate reader systems (automated license plate reader) after learning that the U.S. Border Patrol improperly accessed Auburn’s Flock system last month.

“The council was interested in being able to take action to suspend use of this system so that we would allow for more discussion,” Council President Vanessa Kritzer said. “We’ve scheduled a whole meeting next week on public safety.”

Other governments and police agencies around Washington have taken similar measures.

“To the community that was caught off guard by the implementation of the license plate readers, I hear you,” Councilmember Melissa Stuart said.

The council stated that the suspension provides time for further community discussion regarding privacy concerns and vendor trustworthiness.

The council plans to address the issue next week during a meeting with the Public Safety and Human Services Committee on Nov. 18.

This is a developing story, check back for updates