Officials in Golden, Colo., are reconsidering whether to keep paying $27,500 per year for 11 Flock license plate reader cameras after multiple city council members raised concerns about privacy, surveillance, and control over the data the system collects.
Here’s what to know
Instead of voting on the contract right away, council members asked staff to spell out the legal and contractual fallout of canceling it and bring that analysis back before any final action, according to The Denver Gazette. Even so, most of the council appeared to be leaning toward ending the agreement, which is otherwise set to continue through July 2028.
During the discussion, Golden Police Chief Michele Wagner and interim Commander Ben Salentine said the department has used the system since 2023, per The Denver Gazette. They explained that the cameras capture images of passing vehicles, keep records for 30 days, and let law enforcement search for vehicles tied to a specific plate or seen near a crime scene.
Wagner described the cameras as a “focused investigative tool,” while Salentine said the system does not establish probable cause for an arrest and instead gives officers leads that require further investigation…