Lafayette officials are taking steps to part ways with Flock Safety “immediately,” after deciding this week not to renew the city’s contract with the controversial surveillance company.
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The Flock ousting follows a Tuesday night vote by the City Council to remove $77,500 for a contract from the city’s 2027 budget. Lafayette began using Flock’s automated license plate reader cameras in 2022.
Lafayette officials will “begin the process of early termination of the Flock Safety contract” and will “immediately end all use of Flock Safety technologies,” city spokesperson Erin Frazier said in an email Wednesday morning.
The City Council on Oct. 6 had already voted 5-1 to approve next year’s budget on first reading, or a preliminary vote, with a provision that would explicitly remove the money for a Flock contract renewal.
Tuesday night’s unanimous approval was the final council vote on next year’s budget. Councilmember David Fridland was absent.
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After the Oct. 6 meeting — where the council heard over an hour of public comment from community members opposed to Flock — city leadership and Police Command staff made the decision to temporarily suspend access to Lafayette Flock Safety data “for both outside agencies and Lafayette public safety personnel,” Frazier said.
Following Tuesday’s final vote, city officials will “cover all Flock Safety cameras governed by the city of Lafayette contract, until removal by the company,” she said.
Unless otherwise directed by the City Council, staff will not contract for any other automated license plate reader system. Not all ALPR cameras in the vicinity of Lafayette are part of the city’s contract and may be contracted by corporations or neighboring municipalities, according to Frazier.
Updates on cameras in the city can be found on its police transparency webpage.
“As we begin the process of removing the 30 cameras that are part of the City of Lafayette contract, it will also be important to share details with the public regarding which cameras are part of ALPR systems and which cameras serve other functions like traffic sensing, speed radar and other uses,” Frazier said.
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