After months of community concern, the Flagstaff City Council unanimously voted to cancel its contract with Flock Safety, discontinuing its automated license plate reader system.
Flagstaff police summarized policy guardrails it had put in place to ease community concerns over the technology. But continued public pushback over fears of data misuse and unanswered questions led to the council’s no vote Tuesday.
Resident Jan Carlile spoke during public comment.
“I admire and respect the efforts of our police department to try to do the very best they can to protect our safety, and until the advancement of AI and frankly the troubling efforts by our current national administration, both of those can potentially very seriously undercut our privacy as citizens," Carlile said. "I would not likely have been concerned about the use of cameras as a tool for public safety [in the past], but we are in a new era.”
Many residents questioned if Flock Safety had reduced local crime since its 2024 installation.
Ahead of the unanimous vote Tuesday, police Chief Sean Connolly said he couldn’t give a definitive answer.
“We sit here today with a 12% reduction in violent crime and a reduction of almost 4% in property. I’m not attributing that solely to this technology, but it’s one piece of the wheel," Connolly said.
Flock Safety says it captures 20 billion license plates every month in 5,000 cities across 49 states.
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St. Mary’s Food Bank distributes about 300,000 pounds of food each day. Most of that comes from donations, but the food bank still has to purchase supplemental items. -
The department’s first e-bike teams were deployed last month to enable rescue teams to get to rural areas with rugged terrain more quickly. The e-bikes can carry medical supplies and rescue equipment to allow firefighters to provide necessary care and manage rescue operations while waiting for additional crews. -
Honeywell Aerospace and the Phoenix Aviation department are collaborating on testing new technology to prevent collisions between aircraft and ground vehicles. The first-of-its-kind surface alert technology warns of an imminent collision before it happens. -
Diesel prices are steadily increasing, affecting school districts across the state. The price jump is especially felt in rural areas, including the Flagstaff Unified School District. -
This fall, Arizona voters will have their say on the issue in the form of Proposition 319. If passed, the measure would ban new photo enforcement systems. Those that are already in place would have to be approved by voters in that city or town to stay up and running.
