The Asheville City Council last night approved the termination of the city's contract with Flock Safety, the company that provides license plate recognition cameras. The vote was 5 to 2.
The issue was added to the agenda as a new item after Mayor Esther Manheimer made a public appeal via social media to terminate the contract. With the resolution passed, the city will remove the 11 Flock cameras that were operating within its boundaries.
The debate about surveillance, privacy, and civil rights is not new in Asheville.
In May, the council approved by 6 votes to 1 the construction of the Real-Time Intelligence Centera system that will integrate cameras, license plate readers, and Axon technology. Roney was the only one who voted against it. That session also ended amid protests.
A full house and more than an hour of public commentary
The session lasted until 9:40 pm and included more than an hour of public comment, during which dozens of residents spoke. The vast majority opposed not only Flock, but also the Real-Time Intelligence Center any progress in new automatic license plate readers.
These cameras photograph the license plate of every vehicle that passes in front of them and record characteristics such as the make, model and color, along with the location and time.
In August, the police department reduced the period it retains that information from 30 to 21 days, according to a memo from acting chief Jackie Stepp to the council.
Manheimer cited news reports about cases in other cities where the Flock system shared data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement without the express permission of the governments that contracted the service.
The Asheville police department has assured Enlace Latino NC that does not share your data with ICE.
The five votes in favor (with reservations)
Manheimer explained the technical difference that, according to her, justifies ending Flock but not Axon: Flock operates a national network in which data cannot be controlled by a single community, while Axon functions as a closed system.
“We haven’t had any problems with Axon to date,” he asserted.
Roney voted in favor, but cautioned that the resolution falls short, even as a first step. “They haven’t shown me that crime resolution rates in Asheville are linked to the Flock cameras,” he said. His motion to ban the purchase of new readers, including those from Axon, failed due to lack of support.
El Councilman Bo Hess He voted to terminate the contract with Flock, but said he would oppose the city abandoning license plate reading technology.
In this regard, he maintained that readers had provided information in several cases: a woman held against her will in a downtown store, an attack on a woman in Bent Creek, and the July shooting in downtown Asheville.
“Privacy over security”
Deputy Mayor Anntanette Mosley questioned the timing of the decision.
“This all feels deeply political. We are in the middle of election season, and I am uncomfortable making public policy, especially public safety policy, in a way that seems driven by current politics,” he stated.
Councilwoman Sheneika Smith focused her argument on the lack of a replacement plan. “Tonight I hear privacy over conviction. Privacy over safety. Privacy over justice,” she said.
Both voted against the initiative.
Axon is still in the city
The city has a contract with the security company Axon, which currently provides the police department with body cameras, dash cams and license plate readers mounted on patrol cars.
That contract also includes fixed readers that the city has not yet installed. The resolution prohibits the purchase or installation of new Flock technology during the review, but makes no mention of Axon, one of the most hotly debated points of the evening.
Councilwoman Maggie Ullman asked the city manager if the city was going to replace Flock with the same Axon technology.
DK Wesley replied that they did not. “We have a contract with Axon, but before there are any discussions about installing the license plate readers "There are things we need to balance as a community. So absolutely not. We're not going to install them until that community conversation takes place."
You may be interested: By state law, Buncombe and Asheville will collect taxes based on 2021 values.
A review without a defined deadline.
La Resolution 26-180 It went into effect immediately. According to the statement, municipal employees will not be able to access or share the data collected by Flock.
In addition, the use of this technology must be reviewed and recommendations presented in ten points, including which agencies the data could be shared with and whether or not the city should resume using Flock.
These points include the protection of information regarding immigration enforcement, reproductive healthcare, and activities protected by the First Amendment. The resolution does not set a deadline for completing the review.
According to Stepp's memo, there are 86 Flock cameras deployed in Buncombe County, including the 11 belonging to the town (which will now be removed). The others belong to other community entities and are not affected by the vote.
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