The Arlington County Board has directed the County Manager to stop using Flock Safety surveillance technology and begin removing all 41 county-leased cameras from Arlington.
The Board gave the direction during the open session of its Sept. 15 meeting, following concerns from residents about the technology and how it is used.
The equipment includes 26 Flock Falcon license plate reader cameras and 15 Condor pan-tilt-zoom cameras.
“This decision reflects concerns raised by Arlington residents regarding the use of Flock technology,” said Chair Matt de Ferranti “While Arlington has maintained strong safeguards to prevent the abuse of this technology throughout its use by the County, and there has been no report of misuse to date, the County Board takes seriously our obligation to maintain our community’s trust. The Board, the Manager, and our Public Safety staff will continue to evaluate the tools and technologies we use to ensure they align with the values and expectations of Arlington’s residents.”
The decision puts Arlington among local governments confronting questions about how surveillance technology fits into public safety — and how much oversight residents should expect when cameras can collect information about vehicles and activity in public spaces.
County officials have been directed to request removal of every Flock Safety camera installed on public property within 14 business days of the announcement. Arlington cautioned that the physical removal could take longer depending on logistics.
The decision applies only to cameras under county control. Flock cameras installed on private property are not overseen by Arlington County and will not be affected.
The County has also directed that data collected through the system be deleted unless it is required for an active criminal investigation. The deletion will be carried out under applicable contractual, legal and operational requirements.
The Board’s action comes despite county officials reporting no misuse of the system to date. Instead, the decision turns on a broader issue facing Arlington: whether safeguards alone are enough when residents have concerns about the government’s use of surveillance technology.
More details should come quickly. Arlington County plans to provide a public update at the Board’s recessed meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 22, including information on the process of shutting down the system and removing the equipment.