Mountain View Police Chief Mike Canfield has announced that he has turned off the city’s Flock automated license plate readers after it was revealed federal law enforcement agencies improperly accessed data generated in the city.
“While the Flock Safety pilot program demonstrated clear value in enhancing our ability to protect our community and help us solve crimes, I personally no longer have confidence in this particular vendor. Like many of you, I was deeply disappointed to learn that Flock Safety did not meet the City’s requirements regarding our data access control and transparency,” Canfield said in a statement he issued today (Feb. 2).
The cameras will be off until the City Council discusses the issue at its Feb. 24 meeting, Canfield said.
Flock cameras take hundreds of pictures a second of license plates. When a computer stitches the pictures together, it is able to provide information on the daily travels of average citizens, including those not suspected of any crime.
When Mountain View City Council approved the installation of Flock cameras in May 2024, police said the system would help them investigate car break-ins and home burglaries. Police promised they would follow strict protocols to protect privacy and prevent federal agencies from accessing the city’s Flock data.
In a press release issued late Friday, the city acknowledged that its system was accessed by:
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives offices in Kentucky and Tennessee, which investigate crimes related to guns, explosives, arson and the illegal trafficking of alcohol and tobacco;
• the inspector general’s office of the U.S.. General Services Administration, which manages federal buildings, procurement, and property;
• Air Force bases in Langley, Va., and in Ohio;
• and the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada.
The city said the agencies accessed data August to November 2024 without the police department’s permission or knowledge.
The city said the data hadn’t been accessed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which was the fear of residents in 2024 when the Flock system was approved.
In a statement issued late Friday, the city said the federal agencies accessed Mountain View’s information because a setting on the Flock equipment had been set incorrectly. The city blamed Flock.
But Flock spokeswoman Holly Beilin told the Post over the weekend that the settings “are always under the control of the agency.”
Obviously no one in Mountain View is interested in stopping violators of U.S. law, particularly the police. Absolutely can’t have that.
Is this story from the Babylon Bee?? The city of MV and its PD try to help its citizens fight increasing crime…Buy and install some license plate readers, using the “Ready, Fire, Aim” process…When the system doesn’t seem to work as promised and is investigated, it appears to be a case of “Operator Error”…Rather than fixing the system and making the city safer, as originally intended, the city and PD are giving up on it….No mention of whether the system can actually be made to work as originally specified, what that entails (a system setting or what does this button do?) or how much the system cost its citizens (and is going to be wasted)?…These questions all seem relevant to the story…Did I miss the Babylon Bee byline?
As for the cost, an earlier story at padailypost.com says the cameras cost MV $96,800 for the first year and approximately $80,000 to $90,000 annually thereafter.
As for the chief’s motive, it’s all politics. Sure, they could change the settings to keep federal agencies out. That would take a second. But right now, with all of the local politicians wanting to abolish ICE so we can reopen the borders, no sensible police chief is going to stand in the way of the mob.
It appears the mob sacrificing public safety and security on the altar of virtue signaling includes the city staff and city council in addition to the police chief…Crickets from all….Mob rule and lack of transparency and candor by city employees and city council doesn’t well serve the interests of the citizens…or engender their trust and confidence.