Demand Reno, Sparks, & Washoe County Cancel Flock Safety Contracts

City of Reno, City of Sparks, and Washoe County Sheriff have contracts with Flock Safety, a private company conducting mass surveillance of people's travel patterns nationwide. Flock Safety sells their automated license plate readers (ALPRs), gunshot detection technology, and AI technology under the guise of improving public safety and solving crimes, despite there being no evidence to support these claims.

What Flock Safety DOES do is capture and track the everyday movements of ordinary citizens, 24/7. Every time you drive past a Flock camera, it identifies your license plate, vehicle information, decals, stickers, dings and scratches. Cameras are also capable of detecting faces, identifying individuals by gait, following movements, and recording audio of the surrounding area. This data is uploaded to a private Flock-controlled national database where it is stored for 30 days, analyzed by AI for potentially "suspicious" patterns, and is searchable without a warrant by outside agencies who regularly abuse this power. Reno, Sparks, and Washoe County are crawling with these ALPR cameras - what the Flock!

We refuse to allow City of Reno, City of Sparks, and Washoe County to participate in Flock's system of mass surveillance. Due to the severe risk to our democratic rights, we are demanding that City of Reno, City of Sparks, and Washoe County:

1. Turn off all active contracted Flock cameras immediately.
2. Terminate their contracts with Flock Safety and remove the cameras, giving 30 days’ notice to Flock Safety as soon as possible.
3. Pass regulation to ban ALPRs in Reno, Sparks, and Washoe County.
4. Schedule robust, well-publicized public meetings to discuss other forms of camera and AI surveillance being used throughout Reno, Sparks, and Washoe County, and whether they have a place in our community. This includes drones, private security cameras accessible without a warrant, and AI technology supporting camera and other types of surveillance.
5. Ensure public awareness of remaining forms of camera and AI surveillance technology within Reno, Sparks, and Washoe County by establishing a public webpage on City and County government websites that includes contracts, meeting notes, and agendas regarding such technologies.

More Information

Flock Safety's ALPRs do not provide public safety; they are an AI-supported technology contributing to a surveillance state where our lives are constantly monitored and everyone is treated like a potential criminal. Thanks to their network of cameras and AI-powered database, Flock Safety knows when and where you go to work, receive medical care, protest, worship, shop, and hike. You are being tracked by a private company without a warrant; your right to privacy and first amendment rights are being suppressed. 

Flock Safety is causing real danger to our community. There is evidence demonstrating Flock technology misidentifies plates in 10% of cases, leading to many documented wrongful arrests and traumatic enforcement interactions with police. Flock Safety has a history of leaking sensitive information, where such information was widely accessible to the public. Flock cameras are also vulnerable to hacking, and this technology is regularly abused by law enforcement and ICE to spy on American citizens. This is especially concerning considering that Flock's network of cameras is nationwide and includes privately contracted cameras with companies like Lowe's and Home Depot, who are known collaborators with ICE and are not accountable to public oversight. Lastly, companies that utilize AI-powered cameras and AI-surveillance software also need extraordinary amounts of data storage. The construction of data centers in our region and beyond, and the associated extreme risk to our water and energy resources, are directly linked to ALPR technologies. 

The danger to our community will not end with the cancellation of just Flock Safety; there are other private ALPR companies that could be (and are) contracted by police to surveil us, including Motorola/Vigilant, Genetec, Leonardo/ELSAG, Neology, Axon, and more. Reno, Sparks, and Washoe County MUST pass regulation banning all types of ALPRs and safeguard our constitutional freedoms. To prevent more surveillance creep, we are also demanding transparency about other similar surveillance and AI technologies used on citizens in the form of a public webpage with access to contracts, meeting notes, and agendas regarding such technologies.

Please sign our petition and join us in demanding Flock Off!

Flock Off Reno is an initiative of the Biggest Little Action Group - learn more at RenoActionGroup.com