PUBLIC SAFETY
Bernalillo County sheriff to end Flock contracts amid privacy concerns
City of Grants also announced it would terminate its agreement with the surveillance technology company
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Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen said he is in the process of canceling contracts with a controversial surveillance technology company due to what he described as privacy concerns regarding the company鈥檚 use of data.
The city of Grants also announced Thursday that it would terminate its contract with Flock, saying 鈥渢he benefits provided by these cameras do not sufficiently align with the investment required or with the city's overall mission and approach to public safety and security.鈥�
Flock Safety provides surveillance technology, including automatic license plate readers (ALPR), to businesses and law enforcement agencies.
Law enforcement agencies such as the Bernalillo County Sheriff鈥檚 Office and the Albuquerque Police Department have said the technology has helped them track vehicles, identify homicide suspects and find missing people across the state.
APD uses another surveillance technology company, Genetec, for ALPR cameras instead of Flock.
鈥淲e have successfully used license plate readers to recover stolen vehicles and help reduce auto theft by over 50%,鈥� said Gilbert Gallegos, spokesperson for APD. 鈥淭his year, license plate readers have been successfully used in 14 solved homicide cases.鈥�
But Flock has come under scrutiny in recent months, with legislators and the public expressing concerns over how data from ALPR cameras is collected and stored.
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., on Wednesday launched an investigation into Flock and how the company protects Americans鈥� data, stating that Congress 鈥�never authorized the network your industry has built.鈥�
New Mexico lawmakers in February passed Senate Bill 40 鈥� titled the Driver Privacy and Safety Act 鈥� with the goal of limiting the sharing of drivers' personal information gathered from the technology.
Allen wrote a letter in support of the bill, stating that it would provide safeguards by defining what ALPR data can be used for and creating auditing requirements.
BSCO currently has three contracts with the company for a total of 21 Flock cameras.
One contract is $15,000 for five ALPR cameras that expires in October, another is $56,000 for 16 speed cameras that are connected to the Flock network and the third is a $116,000 contract for gunshot detection devices.
The sheriff said all three contracts are off the table as he searches for a new company to partner with. The speed cameras will remain operational but will solely function as a speed camera.
鈥淚f I don鈥檛 have complete confidence in a vendor or company, how am I going to tell another law enforcement entity, 'Yeah, go ahead and go with them,鈥欌�� Allen said.
Flock did not respond to calls for comment.
BCSO will receive retroactive payments for the gunshot detection devices, which were canceled before their term ended, according to BCSO spokesperson Jayme Gonzales.
Allen said over the past year he lost trust in Flock because there are not enough safeguards in place to protect people鈥檚 data, and there have been instances where cameras were cut down or destroyed without Flock notifying him until weeks or months later.
Abuses of the technology by law enforcement have also drawn national attention. The Washington Post reported earlier this month on dozens of instances where officers were accused of using the cameras to track romantic partners or family members.
BCSO has a policy in place requiring regular audits of deputies鈥� Flock usage, and each deputy is required to input a case number in order to access the system. If they cannot justify their usage, they will eventually be banned from using the technology.
Allen said he expected the company to have its own safeguards in place without law enforcement agencies having to implement them independently.
鈥淲e audit at least quarterly, if not monthly,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e just audited two days in a row because I鈥檓 making sure we鈥檙e not missing any discrepancies.鈥�
The agency keeps collected data for 30 days.
Allen expressed concerns over law enforcement agencies from other counties or states using New Mexico鈥檚 data for ill-intended purposes.
An American Civil Liberties Union public records request revealed that New Mexico ALPR cameras were accessed thousands of times by out-of-state law enforcement, including once by Texas law enforcement allegedly tracking a woman seeking abortion care.
The ACLU did not respond to an email for comment about BCSO鈥檚 Flock contract.
Allen does not allow Torrance or Curry counties to access data from BCSO because they work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
While Allen said he has issues with Flock, he plans to search for a new vendor in hopes of finding a company with stronger data protection policies, adding that the technology has helped law enforcement in a multitude of ways.
鈥�I'm not looking at getting rid of the technology as a whole. It's the vendor I have a problem with,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t's a very useful, powerful tool, but it needs to have guardrails and be used correctly.鈥�
Nakayla McClelland covers crime and breaking news. Reach her at nmcclelland@abqjournal.com or at 505-823-3857.
