Denver City Council pushes back against police request for permanent license plate cameras

Denver police are hoping to renew a contract for a piece of technology they say is a gamechanger with solving crimes.

Flock Safety utilizes license plate recognition and was implemented through a pilot program less than a year ago. Now, they're asking for a 2-year contract extension.

 There are more than 100 cameras at around 70 intersections all across Denver snapping photos of license plates as cars pass through. But, while DPD calls it a gamechanger, some Denver city council members say the technology is an invasion of privacy and leaves too many opportunities for misuse.

"I'm not so convinced that this is a law enforcement tool that's worth both the risk and the cost," said Councilwoman Sarah Parady.

The technology was originally implemented to crack down on auto theft, but it has helped law enforcement with much more.

"Denver was number one in the country for the past few years in auto theft rate, and we've seen almost a 50% reduction in auto thefts over the last year," said Denver Police Commander Paul Jimenez. "In terms of the violent crime rate, homicides are down, (aggravated) assault, firearms, gun crime is down as well. So we believe that there's been a strong correlation between the use of this technology and those decreases in crime."

According to DPD, Flock has helped with 275 arrests, 180 recovered stolen vehicles and several homicides. It even helped them track down suspects in a $12 million jewelry heist at a Denver mall earlier this year.

"I think it's worth its weight in gold," said Jimenez. "And if we didn't have it, I'm confident saying Denver would be less safe."

The information Flock collects is stored for 30 days, while an audit of who accessed the system is stored indefinitely. And, its use for immigration enforcement, personal use, or anything based solely on race, sex or religion is strictly prohibited.

Still, Parady is very concerned, and is leading the opposition against the contract renewal.

"There are at least 82 other law enforcement agencies that can go in through a little interface, just like a little web search form, and they can search all of the plate images from Denver," said Parady. "So that includes El Paso County. That includes agencies all around the state of Colorado, including some who have clear policies of cooperating with ice on civil deportations, which Denver does not do. So any law enforcement agent in any of those agencies can go in and fully search this plate data."

Much of her concern stems from the current federal administration and the contract's lack of protection against future mandates.

"Right now, it gives Flock the ability or the right to release our data if flock believes that it's required to do so by law," said Parady. "And so we will be basically trusting Flock to have our Denverites' best interests at heart. And I don't trust that, to be honest."

The contract renewal will be up for a first vote in city council as early as Monday.