Through the Static

By Hannah Saunders

Back in August, TtS reported on the Redmond Police Department’s (RPD) installation of automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) in an attempt to increase public safety. The Trans nonprofit, the Diversity Alliance of the Puget Sound (DAPS), immediately issued public statements and contacted city representatives regarding the threats these cameras pose to the community. Since, ICE activity and arrests have been increasing in the city and after a Special City Council meeting on November 3, where numerous residents voiced their concerns, the RPD has disabled the ALPRs.

“You as a council have the honor, the privilege, the duty to protect the citizens of Redmond from targeted attacks aimed at disappearing citizens from our country based on specific identifying characteristics and demographics. The Flock system is a citizen-tracking tool plain and simple,” David Kohns, resident, said during public comment.

Census data from 2023 shows that 45.4% of Redmond residents are white; 40.2% are Asian; 5.8% are Hispanic or Latino; 5.4% are two or more races; and 2.1% are Black or African American. Residents who are born overseas make up 44.4% of the population, and 29.8% are not U.S. citizens, according to the data. The city’s diverse background is largely due to economic and employment opportunities, like at the Microsoft headquarters.

RPD said its ALPR system, also known as Flock, was not used for the monitoring or general surveillance of people, but rather to identify vehicles that are tied to criminal investigations. ALPRs collect images of license plates of every vehicle that passes the reader, noting the date and time, vehicle make, model, and color. The police department also claims the surveillance system was installed to support missing persons investigations.

During the first 19 days of implementation, DAPS found that over 100,000 people’s license plates were possibly scanned – almost 1.2% of Washington’s population.

“RPD does not cooperate or participate in immigration enforcement. ALPR data was never shared with ICE,” RPD stated after suspending the system. “Data retention followed RPD policy and was automatically purged after the established period.”

Kohns brought up how during a council interview with RPD Chief Darrell Lowe the previous week, Chief Lowe admitted that the department left the Flock surveillance system open to two out-of-state agencies. He added how Chief Lowe said there was only one circumstance where Flock was used to track a criminal, and that RPD was still working on finding and arresting them.

“So how is the risk of using this system worth it?” Kohns said. “But most concerning, he did not address the question of whether Flock data can be subpoena’d by a court.”

The use of Flock is not an issue to be analyzed, Kohns said, and that it must immediately be dismantled to protect citizens from foreign agents. He then asked the council how they would like to be remembered.

“Would you like to be remembered for doing the right thing to protect your citizens, or would you like to be remembered for doing nothing?” Kohns said.

Resident Daniel Dawson has a background in computer science with a focus on security, and asked for the Flock system to be suspended during public comment.

“The core concern I have with the collection of population scale location data without the consent of population is that Redmond incurs a liability for massing all of this information into one place, making it a treasure trove for hackers or other bad actors to seek out,” Dawson said.

Dawson highlighted how companies claim their product is superior in security and confidentiality, but that this complex hardware and software system makes it nearly impossible to ensure 100% security. He noted how in 2017, Equifax leaked the personal information of almost 150 million people, which included names, addresses, phone numbers, and social security numbers, despite claims of the highest security.

On November 3, there were three incidents of ICE arrests: one was at the Bear Creek shopping center and another was in the parking lot of the Home Depot.

“Just today in Redmond, ICE agents appeared in unmarked cars on Avondale Road, where one of our residents was taken from his vehicle,” Juliana Penja said to the council.

Chief Lowe provided an update to the council and said RPD was not aware of warrants being involved in the arrests, and claimed the Flock system data was not used or received by any outside entity.

Since 2012, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has been obtaining public records requests on how police departments nationwide use ALPRs, and received thousands of documents. The ACLU found that these systems are a tool for “mass routine location tracking and surveillance,” and that legislation and law enforcement policies must work to “prevent the government from tracking our movements on a massive scale.”

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