Alexandria cancels Flock license plate reader contract; cameras to go dark Friday

By Hannah Prewitt

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Alexandria has canceled its contract for Flock Safety license plate readers, and the city’s 61 cameras are expected to stop reading plates by Friday, Police Chief Tarrick McGuire told City Council on Tuesday night.

“Effective this evening, I sent notification to Flock Safety that we would discontinue our program with them,” McGuire said during the city manager’s report, according to The Alexandria Brief. “I anticipate by this Friday that the ALPR cameras should be deactivated.” The cameras are to be physically removed by the end of December.

“The Flock contract is canceled,” City Manager James Parajon said, adding that “the data will be turned off within 48 hours.”

Contract could end at any time

The city first contracted for Flock cameras in 2023 through a reseller, Insight Public Sector, and the current term runs through April 2027, the police department said in written answers to council questions. The department said the city “may stop service by Flock Safety at any time.”

In those answers, the department said it had cut off access for 12 Virginia agencies that are Flock customers and hold 287(g) immigration enforcement agreements with the federal government. It said license plate data not tied to a criminal investigation is purged within 21 days under state law, and that data kept as evidence is moved out of the Flock network.

The department has described the cameras as investigative tools used to develop leads, identify vehicles linked to crimes and find missing or endangered people. Virginia law limits their use to criminal investigations supported by reasonable suspicion, missing-person cases and legally authorized notifications.

Council turns to surveillance rules

City Council is scheduled to take up rules for any future surveillance technology on Nov. 10, and the vice mayor said the cancellation is not a switch to another vendor, The Alexandria Brief reported.

Alexandria’s decision comes as neighboring governments weigh their own programs. Fairfax County supervisors questioned police about Flock readers last week and put off a decision.

The Inquisitor has asked the Alexandria Police Department and the city manager’s office how the department will handle investigations that relied on the readers, and asked Flock Safety for comment.