In a Denver City Council meeting on Tuesday evening, council members voted 7-6 to replace the Flock cameras in the city, with a new system operated by a different mass surveillance technology corporation called Axon. Council President Amanda Sandoval cast the deciding vote, breaking a 6-6 tie to approve the one-year contract.
Flock’s contract with the city of Denver ended on Tuesday, March 31, following months of controversy surrounding Flock’s undisclosed partnerships with U.S. Border Patrol and ICE, and Flock allowing law enforcement agencies outside of Denver to search Denver’s data on behalf of ICE.
The 110 automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras that were operated by Flock, will now be removed and replaced with the new Axon system that includes 50 cameras. The replacement cameras will not be operational for several weeks.
The below statement can be attributed to Anaya Robinson, ACLU of Colorado public policy director:
“Denverites, advocacy and civil rights organizations, and privacy and immigrants' rights groups have all been clear, these cameras do not belong in the city without crucial regulations in place to protect the privacy and safety of people in Denver.”
“Despite numerous calls from its constituents to vote no on this new contract, Denver City Council voted to allow Mayor Mike Johnston to abruptly switch from one dragnet surveillance corporation to another without time. There was no time for formal input from Denver’s Surveillance Task Force, or to create critical regulatory guidelines that would protect the privacy and personally identifiable information of Denverites.”
“While it is disappointing that this dangerous mass surveillance continues to operate unregulated, our priorities are clear: Denverites civil liberties must come first, we will not allow the serious threats these corporations pose to the privacy and safety of Coloradans to go ignored. The ACLU of Colorado alongside community advocates and partners, will continue to fight to get necessary regulations in place in the city of Denver, and in the state of Colorado.”