Harrisonburg council orders Flock camera shutdown, sets new ALPR rules

Harrisonburg City Council adopted a resolution July 28 directing the Harrisonburg Police Department to stop using the city’s Flock automatic license plate recognition system within seven days and begin deactivating and removing the cameras.

The action covers 31 Flock Falcon cameras and two Falcon Flex cameras supplied for city use since January 2024. It also establishes new approval rules for future stationary-camera automatic license plate recognition systems, requiring an express public council vote and funding through the annual budget process before the city could procure, operate or maintain one.

What the resolution orders

Resolution 26-005 directs city staff not to renew the Flock contract and to terminate it as quickly as allowed by the contract and applicable law. It also directs staff to stop HPD’s use of the system within seven days of July 28, promptly make the cameras nonoperational and arrange for Flock to remove them.

The resolution says city staff notified Flock of the cancellation and were working with the company on removal. It does not establish that the contract was fully terminated on July 28, that the cameras have already been removed or that a final termination expense has been determined.

Thirty-three cameras are covered

The resolution says Flock installed 31 Falcon cameras and provided two Falcon Flex cameras under a contract dated June 30, 2023. The equipment remained Flock property and was supplied for Harrisonburg Police Department use beginning in January 2024.

The seven-day instruction is a deadline adopted by council. The supplied public records do not independently confirm when HPD’s operational shutdown was completed or when physical removal of the equipment will occur.

New approval requirement for stationary ALPR

The policy, effective July 28, says stationary-camera ALPR systems may not be procured, operated or maintained by the city without express City Council approval by a vote at a duly called public meeting and an appropriation of the necessary funds through the annual budget process.

The policy applies to city departments and employees, as well as contractors, consultants, volunteers and vendors working on the city’s behalf. It also requires the police chief to provide surveillance-technology information and descriptions during the annual budget process for council review.

The policy does not apply to the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Emergency Communications Center, which is overseen through a regional joint-services structure rather than directed by City Council.

What the policy does not prohibit

The new restriction does not cover photo-speed monitoring devices defined under Virginia law or vehicle-mounted ALPR systems. The policy says HPD’s vehicle-mounted systems remain governed by Virginia law and HPD Policy 604.

Virginia law defines an ALPR system as high-speed cameras used with computer algorithms to convert images of license plates or vehicles into computer-readable data. The state law provides the legal framework for ALPR use, but it did not itself order Harrisonburg’s stationary-camera shutdown.

Privacy and trust concerns cited

The adopted policy says council received community input raising concerns about equity, privacy, data security and the potential effect of ALPR technology on trust between residents and HPD. Council determined that those concerns outweighed the benefits of stationary-camera systems.

At the same time, the policy says there was no evidence that HPD officers or other Virginia law-enforcement officers had abused or misused Harrisonburg’s system or its data. The policy distinguishes that statement about Harrisonburg and Virginia from documented cases elsewhere involving unauthorized access or misuse of other ALPR systems.

For Harrisonburg residents, the immediate change is a council-directed end to HPD’s use of the existing stationary-camera system. The remaining implementation questions are when the shutdown was completed, when the contract legally ends, whether termination expenses will be incurred and when Flock will physically remove the cameras.

Sources

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