The Navajo Nation may start using automatic license plate readers from a company with a growing reach in Arizona and a widening swath of criticism across the United States.
A committee made up of the tribe’s legislative council heard from Flock Safety, the Atlanta, Georgia-based company that’s signed contracts with the cities of Sedona, Flagstaff, Scottsdale and others in Arizona.
Legislator Eugenia Charles-Newton leads the council’s Law and Order Committee. She supports the new system and says it’s needed on the Navajo Nation.
"We’re hoping that with these license plate readers in these areas that are very open and where there’s not many people living like in the rural areas, it’ll help to assist with cases that get reported," she said.
The company recently paused a pilot program after the state of Illinois learned Flock Safety had allowed Customs and Border Protection to access data on drivers there.
"We immediately ordered Flock to turn off Border Patrol’s access to Illinois data," Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias said in a video statement.
Flock Safety says its systems capture billions of photos of license plates each month. The information collected, however, is owned by the jurisdictions in which the systems are located. Law enforcement receive inquiries from other agencies, the Associated Press reported.
"Because of our actions, they have since paused their pilot program with the Border Patrol agency and other federal agencies not only in Illinois but nationwide," Giannoulias said.
The company markets a boutique of security systems ranging from the license plate readers to rapid response drones, gunshot detectors and a national license plate network. It says it captures 20 billion license plates every month in 5,000 cities across 49 states.
In a Flock Safety promotional video posted to the company’s YouTube account, police dispatchers use Flock’s drones, license plate readers and AI software to build a profile of a carjacker that leads to an arrest.
The company also markets its products to HOAs, banks, retail stores, hospitals and places of worship.
Flock Safety also says how its data is being used by cities. For example, according to the company, the Payson Police Department uses 17 license plate readers, keeps the data for 30 days, doesn’t show people or use facial recognition, and shares data with more than 250 law enforcement agencies from California to Kansas, Idaho and Ohio.
Flagstaff has defended its use of the system and as recently as last week, highlighted its use of a Flock reader to arrest a man accused of firing a gun.
The Flagstaff City Council is slated to weigh whether it should continue with the service after a petition demanding an end to the program gathered enough signatures to proceed.
Some cities, like Sedona, have paused contracts with Flock Safety, citing residents' concerns over privacy.
Navajo legislator Charles-Newton says the tribe’s ongoing challenges with missing and murdered women and property theft are unlike what Sedona may face.
"Our community is very, very rural and it’s expansive; 27,000 square miles is what we have on the Navajo Nation. It’s not a small little area like Sedona. I think that the situations are much different. The issues are much different," she said.
The matter will appear before the tribe’s legislative council next. A Flock Safety spokesperson declined an interview with KJZZ, saying it doesn’t discuss its contracts.
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