Renton City Council Should Turn Flock Safety's Cameras Back On -Not Cancel Them for Good

This month, the Renton City Council voted to cover the city's license plate reader cameras with garbage bags and zip ties, which could redirect city crews from a school traffic safety project to do it. Two doors down, a neighbor's car was broken into in broad daylight. It wasn't the first time. Package theft, car break-ins, the occasional stolen vehicle -none of it makes headlines, but it adds up to a neighborhood that feels less secure than it used to.

That's why it's concerning that Renton has modern public safety technology available through Flock Safety and isn't using it. With the cameras off, our police department has no leads on cars involved in crimes, no faster way to track stolen vehicles, no extra assistance when someone goes missing. Now, instead of giving police the tools they need to keep us safe, some Council members are pushing to cancel the Flock Safety program for good.

I get the hesitation. Nobody wants a camera tracking their every move. But that's not what these do... Flock's cameras read license plates, no faces, no names. Data is deleted after 30 days, and access requires a documented case number. Under state law, none of that data can leave the department without a warrant. Renton doesn't have to take Flock's word for any of this, the Council can write every bit of it straight into the contract.

If the real concern is oversight, cancellation is the wrong response. Turning the cameras back on with stronger guardrails is the right one. Renton wouldn't be breaking new ground — Auburn, Everett, Puyallup, and a handful of other Washington departments already worked through these same questions and chose to restore their programs rather than abandon them.

It's also worth asking what the alternative looks like. Without this technology, officers are left working off instinct instead of evidence. What it gives them instead is a lead or a plate tied to an actual incident, not a hunch. That's a better, fairer way to investigate. And it matters most for small business and people to feel safe enough to stick around, shop, and invest.

To address concerns head on, Flock released new auditing and accountability controls that will be standard across their system. The new guardrails include: 7-day default data retention, down from 30 days, A case number required for every search, Mandatory automated auditing and misuse detection and increased local control over data sharing. All meaningful changes highlighting Flock’s commitment to being a strong community partner through increased self-regulation while preserving their technology’s ability to keep communities safe.

Renton doesn't have to choose between privacy and safety. With the right guardrails, we can have both. I urge the Council to reject the motion to cancel the Flock Safety program, turn the cameras back on, and give our police a fighting chance against the crime hitting our neighborhoods.