Hi neighbors,
This week brought a wave of national news about Flock Safety, from cities canceling contracts to Congress opening investigations, alongside continued local coverage of our own council’s debate over oversight.
Flock in the News
ACLU: Flock’s new AI is watching for “suspicious” movement patterns
The ACLU revealed that Flock is rolling out AI tools that track patterns of movement and proactively alert police if the algorithm decides they’re “suspicious.” This shifts the system from responding to specific search queries to constant, predictive surveillance — expanding Flock’s reach far beyond license plates.
“Flock… is now expanding its uses — validating all our warnings about how such systems inevitably undergo mission creep,” the ACLU writes. “The company says it’s not facial recognition, but tracking how people move over time can reveal as much, or more, about them — where they work, worship, protest, and who they meet with.”
Civil liberties advocates warn that once these systems normalize monitoring everyday behavior, it’s only a matter of time before the same infrastructure is turned to political targeting or discriminatory policing.
404 Media: Congressional Investigation
Following 404 Media’s reporting, Congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robert Garcia launched a formal investigation into “invasive surveillance practices that threaten the privacy, safety, and civil liberties of women, immigrants, and other vulnerable Americans.”
The lawmakers are demanding that Flock turn over detailed logs of all national network searches involving ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and abortion-related investigations—including the date, location, and originating agency for each search.
404 Media’s reporting revealed that police around the country have used Flock to run searches on behalf of ICE for immigration enforcement, contradicting the company’s assurances that it protects against such misuse.
Krishnamoorthi’s office described the inquiry as an effort to ensure the public “cannot be tracked without their knowledge or consent by potentially unaccountable and hostile officials.” The investigation will also probe Flock’s internal policies, any cases where it has blocked data requests, and its communications with law enforcement agencies.
While Flock has since made some changes, such as removing certain states from its national lookup tool and agreeing to block out-of-state searches related to abortion or immigration, critics say these adjustments only happened after journalists exposed the practices, raising questions about how many other abuses remain undiscovered.
Also, just in the past week or so:
Denver, CO – Audit logs showed more than 1,400 immigration-related searches of Denver Flock cameras between June 2024 and April 2025 — many after Trump’s inauguration. The city only disabled national lookups in April, long after out-of-state agencies had already accessed the data for “ICE” or “immigration” searches.
Oak Park, IL – The village board voted to terminate its Flock contract outright, citing confirmed immigration enforcement use of local data and distrust in the company’s ability to protect residents’ privacy.
Nationwide Retail Partnerships – Records revealed that Lowe’s and Home Depot share license plate reader feeds from hundreds of store parking lots with police, sometimes across state lines, adding a major private-sector layer to Flock’s surveillance network.
Wisconsin – An analysis of audit data from 221 agencies found vague search reasons like “investigation” or even just a “.” in place of justification. ICE-partner agencies appeared in the logs, raising questions about oversight, transparency, and potential use for immigration enforcement.
Each of these stories underscores why any local system, including Mountlake Terrace’s, must have strong, enforceable safeguards before the first camera is installed. Once data enters the Flock network, the potential for misuse or overreach grows well beyond city limits.
Closer to Home: Mountlake Terrace’s Flock Debate
In Mountlake Terrace, the August 7 City Council meeting picked up a conversation many in our community have been asking for since the June 5 vote to approve a Flock Safety contract. The cameras aren’t installed yet, but council agreed it was worth revisiting the topic — this time focusing on potential guardrails, oversight, and how to align the system with community values.
MLTnews coverage recapped how the meeting included both public comment and detailed council discussion. Council heard again from residents who want the contract canceled before installation, as well as those calling for strong oversight and transparency.
A follow-up MLTnews article described options under review: reactivating the city’s dormant Community Policing Advisory Board, creating a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commission subcommittee, strengthening Police Policy 617, and adopting a values statement or resolution.
The Daily Herald highlighted ongoing frustration from residents who feel the June 5 vote ignored public opinion.
All three articles show the same tension: a contract already signed, strong public skepticism, and a council now trying to design safeguards for a system many believe shouldn’t be installed at all.
Still resisting,
Dustin
