(The Center Square) – A wave of anti-surveillance vandalism across Washington in recent weeks has targeted a formidable and costly foe: automated license plate reader cameras.
The backlash has forced nearly 80 cities and jurisdictions in Washington to rethink or defend their agreements with Atlanta-based Flock Safety, whose artificial intelligence-powered cameras have multiplied on street corners as police departments struggle to address crime amid budget and staffing crises.
“We’ll continue to strengthen privacy, security, and accountability safeguards across our technology and explain clearly what those changes mean for the customers who use it,” Flock said in a Sept. 1 blog post detailing new policy changes made following the recent upheaval.
In Redmond, Flock cameras only lasted four months. After securing state funding, the city council had cameras installed and running by August 2025. They manually disabled them in November of last year, and after months of discussion, unanimously voted to terminate the Flock contract on July 21.
“We have heard an outpouring from our community…that they are fearful of these cameras,” Redmond Councilmember Vivek Prakriya said before the vote. “The community believes that these cameras are a threat.”
Police say the cameras, which have collectively cost Washington taxpayers at least $2 million, have helped prevent and solve crimes from theft to homicide.
As Washingtonians rally around data privacy concerns and AI use, it’s easy to lose sight of why the cameras are there in the first place – is the purported crime-fighting cost to taxpayers actually paying off?
It could be hard to tell. While agencies that use Flock in Washington have online transparency portals, information is limited to a count of cameras, license plate scans, searches and hot list hits.
Few police departments are publicly tracking crime-related results from automated license plate readers; some have shared case anecdotes. One exception is Everett, which publishes recurring Flock reports with outcome metrics and a comparison to its prior three-year stolen-vehicle average.
And while a new state law requires agencies using Flock to register with the Attorney General’s Office – which must publish annual reports and policies on use of the technology starting in December 2027 – it’s unclear what that will entail.
How much does Flock cost?
Flock’s automated license plate readers photograph license plates and features such as make, model, color, decals and damage of all passing vehicles – including bicycles. They don’t use facial recognition, record video or detect occupants; they generate a still-image “vehicle fingerprint” checked against hot lists of stolen vehicles and wanted or missing people.
Nationally, Flock serves more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies across 49 states. In April, the 9-year-old company reached an $8.4 billion valuation, and has surpassed $300 million in annual recurring revenue, according to investment reports.
In Washington, there is no clear inventory of how many public agencies use the technology; estimates range from dozens to 89. The Center Square confirmed 43 jurisdictions in Washington to have past or present Flock agreements.
Notably, Seattle and Tacoma don’t use Flock – but that doesn’t mean the cameras don’t exist there through private contracts.
The volunteer-run DeFlock mapping project has logged 2,253 automated license plate readers in Washington as of Sept. 1, but the total is likely higher. Contracts between Flock and public agencies can be found through council meeting minutes or public record request.
Flock cameras are leased through an annual subscription that bundles hardware, installation, cellular connectivity, cloud storage and software. Flock lists initial installation at $1,000 to $1,250 per camera, with relocation or vandalism repair costing up to $5,000. The subscription runs at about $2,500 to $3,000 per camera per year, and the company reserves the right to increase prices.
In 2024, the City of SeaTac approved $197,500 for its first year of Flock services, to be paid out of the $18.3 million police budget, as well as an ongoing, annual subscription cost of $93,500.
To date, the city has 27 cameras that over the past 30 days have provided about 478,000 license plate reads, resulting in 182 user searches and 1,493 hotlist hits. The subscription accounts for about 1.1% of the police budget, which costs residents about $561 per resident per year.
The subscription also plugs each user into a statewide, cloud-based network: agencies can share footage with each other, so a city with few or no cameras – or that has disabled their own – can still access a large pool of data. Stanwood has just 12 cameras but receives data from 50 jurisdictions; the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office runs eight cameras but receives data from 69 jurisdictions statewide.
Next in the series: How are Flock cameras paid for, and do they work?
