Lynchburg City Council Calls Special Meeting on Future of Flock Cameras

Council will meet Thursday to discuss the city's already-paused license plate readers and possible action involving its agreement with Flock.

LYNCHBURG, Va. — Lynchburg City Council has called a special meeting for Thursday evening to consider the future of the city's 15 fixed Flock automatic license plate readers, which the Lynchburg Police Department has already temporarily taken out of operation.

The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3, in Council Chamber at City Hall, 900 Church Street.

According to the city's meeting notice, Council will consider a resolution regarding the temporary pause of the cameras, support for the Lynchburg Police Department, and providing "notice" and license revocation in accordance with the terms of the city's agreement with Flock Group Inc.

The special meeting comes after Lynchburg Police announced that it was temporarily pausing operation of the 15 cameras in response to community feedback and concerns about public trust. Police said the decision was not prompted by any identified misuse of the cameras.

LPD has said the automated license plate readers have helped recover stolen vehicles, locate missing and endangered people, apprehend violent offenders and assist with criminal investigations.

Police Chief Ken Edwards said when the pause was announced that the department wanted to strengthen public confidence while continuing to support technology and policing practices that can reduce crime.

The department also said it would work with city staff to arrange an independent third-party review of its policies, procedures, training and operational practices involving automatic license plate reader technology.

Flock's technology has faced growing scrutiny in Virginia and elsewhere over privacy, data collection and law enforcement's access to vehicle-location information. Several Virginia communities have ended their Flock agreements, while the technology continues to have supporters who point to its use in criminal investigations and public-safety cases.

Thursday's meeting could provide greater clarity on whether Lynchburg's cameras will eventually return to operation or whether the city will take additional action involving its agreement with Flock.

I think this is stronger than the city's original announcement, because a reader who already saw that the cameras were paused would otherwise wonder, “Didn't they already do this?”

The most interesting phrase in the city notice to me is “providing ‘notice’ and license revocation.” I would not translate that into “terminating the Flock contract” unless the actual resolution confirms that's what it means. Once the meeting packet/resolution is posted, that document is worth reading closely. It may tell you considerably more about what Council is actually contemplating than today's brief notice does.