Flock Reinstalls Cameras Without City Approval After Unlawful Govt Access

Summary

Private surveillance vendor Flock Safety reinstalled all of its stationary license plate cameras in Evanston that had previously been removed, apparently doing so without authorization from the city, which sent the company a cease-and-desist order Tuesday afternoon demanding that the cams be taken back down. The city previously ordered Flock to shut down 19 automated license plate readers (18 stationary and one flex camera that can be attached to a squad car) provided by the company and put its contract with Flock on a 30-day termination notice on Aug. 26. This decision came after Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias discovered that Flock had allowed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to access Illinois cameras in a “pilot program” against state law, and after the RoundTable reported in June that out-of-state law enforcement agencies were able to search Flock’s data for assistance in immigration cases. Flock had removed 15 of the 18 stationary cameras by Sept. 8, only to reinstall each one at or near its prior location by Tuesday. City spokesperson Cynthia Vargas said in a written statement that the city has not deviated from or made any changes to its policies “since the earlier contract termination, meaning Flock reinstalled the cameras without the city’s permission.” “Recently, we became aware that Flock has reinstalled the physical cameras that they had previously taken down,” Vargas wrote. “We immediately issued a cease-and-desist order to Flock. Earlier this afternoon, Flock committed to promptly removing the cameras.” Flock did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the RoundTable on Tuesday night. The city first installed Flock cameras in late 2022 and early 2023 as part of two separate one-year contracts, and City Council later approved a single five-year contract extension in January 2024. The city has paid the first two years of that extension but would still owe $145,500 for the final three years if the contract is upheld. The cit...