Hi neighbors,
On Tuesday night, the Sedona, AZ, City Council voted unanimously to cancel its contract with Flock Safety and remove all 11 of the license plate reader cameras that had already been installed. The Sedona Red Rock News has the full story »
“The only way for us to make sure that data is not broadly shared or abused is to not have any.”
Sedona Red Rocks News story
Sedona’s mayor, who previously supported the program, explained that after learning about Flock’s hidden federal data-sharing and hearing overwhelming opposition from residents, he had changed his mind. “I received better data, better information, and I’m man enough to say I made a mistake,” he said.
Sedona now joins a long and growing list of cities across the country that have cut ties with Flock after realizing the company has been less than honest about its practices. Councilmembers there called Flock “not honorable” and highlighted how the company downplayed or misrepresented its connections to federal agencies.
Sound familiar?
Here in Mountlake Terrace, our council voted 5–2 on June 5 to approve Flock. Since then, even more information has surfaced: contracts with Homeland Security, evidence of indirect ICE access, and repeated examples of misleading statements from Flock officials. Councilmember William Paige has already said publicly that he regrets his yes vote after learning these facts.
The question now is whether our other councilmembers—Ryan, Sonmore, Wahl, and Mayor Matsumoto Wright—are willing to show the same courage Sedona’s leaders did. Reconsidering a vote isn’t weakness. It’s strength. It’s listening, learning, and responding when new information shows the risks are greater than first understood.
If Sedona can cancel, so can Mountlake Terrace.
Still resisting,
Dustin