The City of Evanston isn’t waiting for Flock Safety to remove the automated license plate readers the company reinstalled without permission, and has covered the cameras to block them from potentially logging vehicles that drive by.
The RoundTable observed a camera on Emerson Street covered by black plastic secured with tape to the mounting pole on Wednesday, and city spokesperson Cynthia Vargas confirmed Thursday afternoon that it was the city’s doing.
“Flock has committed to removing the cameras promptly,” Vargas wrote, “but in the meantime, City staff have placed covers over them.”
A Flock spokesperson provided a written statement Thursday asserting that “the cameras are not active and will be uninstalled.”
“We continue to be optimistic that we will have the opportunity to have a constructive dialogue to address the City’s concerns and resume our successful partnership making Evanston safer,” the statement reads.
The statement did not answer the RoundTable’s question asking when the cameras would be removed, nor questions sent Tuesday concerning why the cameras were reinstalled and irregularities in its transparency portal data for Evanston.
The city previously ordered Flock to shut down 19 cameras (18 stationary and one flex camera that can be attached to a squad car) provided by the company and put its contract with Flock on a 30-day termination notice on Aug. 26. The company took down 15 of the 18 stationary cameras by Sept. 8, only to reinstall all of them by Tuesday. This was apparently without authorization from city officials, who sent Flock a cease-and-desist order to take them back down.
The city’s shutdown decision came after Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced his office discovered Flock had allowed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to access Illinois cameras in a “pilot program” against state law, and after the RoundTable reported in June that out-of-state law enforcement agencies were able to search Flock’s data for assistance in immigration cases.
Flock’s statement Thursday goes on to say the company is “unaware of any ongoing investigation” of its actions.
“We disagree, respectfully, with any assertions that we have broken the law,” the statement reads. “We have been in routine, collaborative contact with the office of the IL SOS for several weeks and are continuing to work with them on officer education and compliance.”
