Hi neighbors,
It’s been a minute. As I mentioned in my last couple of updates, it has been a busy season for me, but the world keeps spinning and a lot has happened since I last checked in.
Before getting into it, I want to say thank you to those who have emailed me recently. I’ve read every note, and I’m grateful for all of you who continue to stay engaged. I haven’t had a chance to reply to everyone yet, but I hope to get caught up soon.
Mountlake Terrace’s Flock contract is, well, I’m hoping dead in the water. After the news of the past couple of weeks, I cannot imagine how any elected official or police chief could stand before their community and still claim this is a good idea. Many communities are now reversing course as Flock Safety continues to show itself to be a dishonest and reckless company.
Kudos to Jenna Peterson at the Everett Herald, the researchers at the University of Washington, and all the other journalists who have been doing excellent work covering this story. Here are a few recent articles worth reading. I could list dozens more.
Herald: Judge denies request to exempt Flock footage from the Public Records Act
A Skagit County judge ruled that Flock camera footage is public record and not exempt under privacy or intelligence provisions. The case involved Stanwood and Sedro-Woolley, which had argued that retrieving footage would create new records. The judge disagreed, noting that it is created and retained for law enforcement purposes. The decision comes as several cities pause installations or reassess policies. Mountlake Terrace has delayed installing cameras pending legal clarity, while Lynnwood paused its ALPR program to review privacy controls.
Herald: Federal and out-of-state access in Snohomish County
Records show that U.S. Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, and other federal agencies accessed multiple Snohomish County Flock networks hundreds to thousands of times in early 2025. Out-of-state law enforcement also ran searches tied to immigration through Flock’s “nationwide lookup” feature. Several departments have since limited sharing or turned that feature off, and lawmakers are now discussing statewide rules for automated license plate readers.
KIRO 7: Redmond and Lynnwood shut off Flock cameras amid privacy concerns
Police in Redmond and Lynnwood have temporarily shut down their Flock systems after revelations of unauthorized federal access. Redmond’s council voted unanimously to pause the program, and Lynnwood followed, disabling all camera access on October 30 while reviewing vendor agreements, policies, and privacy protections. Both departments said maintaining public trust must come before technology.
Ars Technica: Flock haters cross political divides to remove error-prone cameras
Flock Safety is facing a growing nationwide backlash as communities across the political spectrum push to remove its cameras. Lawmakers including Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi have called for a federal investigation into Flock’s handling of personal data, while residents in multiple states are organizing to end contracts over privacy violations and false arrests caused by ALPR errors. The movement now includes both conservative and progressive communities that see Flock’s surveillance network as a shared threat to safety and civil liberties.
Mountlake Terrace officials previously said they would wait until the Stanwood and Sedro-Woolley lawsuits were resolved before deciding how to move forward. We now know that continuing with Flock, on top of the other obvious risks, would impose a significant financial and staff burden on our city when responding to public records requests.
It is time to let go and move on. All it takes is one council member to make a motion to cancel the contract, a second, and a vote. Done.
Election update
Election Day was this past Tuesday, and if you are like me, you probably had a painful reaction to the initial City Council Position 1 results. On Tuesday, Sam Doyle trailed Rick Ryan by 230 votes and six percentage points. But each day since has brought better news. Friday’s returns put Doyle within just three votes of Ryan.
Doyle started at 46.6 percent on Tuesday. Wednesday’s returns flipped the trend, with Doyle receiving 53 percent of new ballots counted. Thursday and Friday were even stronger, with 59 percent of new ballots going her way and putting Doyle within 3 votes of Ryan. As of Friday, Snohomish County Elections reported about 51 Mountlake Terrace ballots left to count, with more likely to arrive over the next few days. Either candidate needs just over 50 percent of the remaining ballots to win, and things are trending in Doyle’s favor.
Check your ballot status
This is your friendly reminder to make sure your vote was counted. Many ballots get rejected for small issues, and there are currently more than 700 ballots being challenged for missing or mismatched signatures. These can be fixed.
What to do:
Go to VoteWA.gov and check your ballot status.
If it says “Accepted,” you are all set and thank you for voting.
If it says “Challenged” or “Pending signature verification,” complete the signature update form and return it using one of the methods listed on the form.
You have 20 days from Election Day to get it resolved. Every vote matters, as we are seeing right now.
Until next time,
Dustin