Berkeley Delays Vote on $2M Flock Safety Deal After Public Backlash

(TNS) — As a growing number of municipalities cancel contracts due to concerns over data security, the Berkeley City Council delayed a vote early Wednesday morning on a $2 million agreement with surveillance company Flock Safety.

Hundreds of residents rebuked the council for even considering the expanded contract, which would pay for more than a dozen street cameras, investigative software and drones. Some fear the technology could be used by the federal government under the Trump administration to target immigrants, women seeking reproductive care or protesters.

“I am not comfortable having as many surveillance cameras as we do in public at all,” said Berkeley resident Valerie Sizemore. “And I especially do not want them connected together in any way.”

Flock Safety entered into a contract with Berkeley to install 52 automatic license plate readers in 2023. Since then, crime has fallen and the percentage of solved robberies has increased from 34% to 49%, according to Berkeley Police Chief Jen Louis, who specifically praised the technology for helping track down auto thefts and identifying suspects across the region.

“All of this is about advancing our technology and resources and serving our community in a way that makes us a safe and thriving community,” said Louis. “None of this works without a strong communication center.”

Flock has come under increased scrutiny as local governments have canceled their contracts, often citing the risk that civilians’ data – particularly those who are immigrants – could be utilized by the Trump administration, despite assurances from Flock Safety.

The city of Mountain View ended its contract with Flock in February after officials said they had been misled when they learned Flock had enabled unauthorized, nationwide access to the city’s automatic license plate reader program without consent.

“I’ve been doing this for 12 years. I’ve never seen any other surveillance technology vendor have a worse year,” said Brian Hofer, a privacy rights expert. “Just the amount of scandals blowing up, the false statements, the security breaches, it is stunning to me and unbelievably disappointing that while the rest of the country is waking up to how dangerous Flock is, including red states.”

The prevailing sentiment in Berkeley appeared to be shifting at Tuesday night’s meeting, which stretched into the early hours Wednesday.

The city’s Police Accountability Board recommended the council defer from taking up a new contract due to transparency and privacy concerns. In addition, hundreds of residents spoke past 1 a.m to denounce the city’s proposal for a closer relationship with the surveillance company.

“Delay this. And if you must continue, delay it until another night,” said Aidan Hill, a Berkeley resident and a perennial District 7 candidate. “Let us have ICE leave San Francisco first before you give them flock security cameras, at the very least.”

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