ASHEVILLE - The mayor of Asheville intends to call for a vote during the Aug. 25 City Council meeting that would authorize the city manager to terminate Asheville's contract with Flock Safety.
Mayor Esther Manheimer released a statement on her stance on Aug. 19, calling for Asheville to turn off the Flock camerasand remove them, which would require terminating the Flock contract.
"After careful review and consultation, I have determined it would not be enough to call for a moratorium on the use of Flock technology, because our contract does not allow for the removal of the technology unless we terminate the contract," Manheimer said.
Manheimer said that Asheville residents have raised "significant" concerns about Flock license plate reading cameras,
and in May, the City Council adopted a resolution to reaffirm the protection of civil liberties in the collection and use of data by police officers. Manheimer said that despite that resolution, continued reporting on Flock's control and use of data make it clear that further action is necessary. There are currently 86 Flock cameras in Buncombe County, including 11 owned by the city of Asheville, according to a memo interim Police Chief Jackie Stepp sent to the City Council.
Flock operates a national network of data collected by its cameras, which conduct 24-hour surveillance and capture license plate numbers as well as vehicle make, model, and color. Manheimer cited news stories featuring documented instances of misuse of Flock data by authorized users in other communities, as well as cases outside of Asheville in which Flock has shared data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies without the express permission of those contracting cities.
“Let’s regroup and work with our community to come up with policies that protect individuals while protecting the entire community,” Manheimer said.
Manheimer is also calling for the city of Asheville to share a transparent policy governing the handling and deletion of data already collected by Flock cameras as part of the contract termination process.
“Interim APD Chief Stepp has already begun this work, and I applaud her efforts to address community concerns through sound, transparent and protective policies,” Manheimer said.
Kara Fohner is the Public Safety Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email her at kfohner@usatodayco.com or call her at 980-241-8671.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville mayor pushes to end Flock camera contract
