Alexandria mayor and city councilmembers want Flock cameras removed

A picture of Flock cameras in one northern Virginia city. Alexandria's mayor and some city leaders say Flock doesn't have a place in their town. Fox 5's Homa Bass joining us from the newsroom to explain. Homa? Jim, Marina, this of course comes amid a national conversation surrounding these Flock cameras and the privacy concerns that are taking center stage now. At a city council meeting last night, Mayor Aaliyah Gaskin saying she does not think Flock specifically has a role in Alexandria. She was joined by two council members who agreed with her, while the police chief says Here's council member Abdullah Alnubi who told me they shouldn't be compromising civil liberties using public safety as an excuse. Looking at alternatives is something important for me, but these alternatives need to have the right protections in place. It's not just about moving away from Flock. It's moving to a system that has the correct protections in place and has the right safeguards around it. Now, as of right now, Alexandria has about 61 Flock safety automated license plate readers operating citywide. At Tuesday night's meeting, Alexandria Police Chief Tariq Maguire fielding questions about how those cameras are used, who has access to footage, and if it is shared with private companies. The police department even putting up a new website now answering some common concerns, saying the data is not used for immigration enforcement. It is only retained for 21 days. And APD does not provide access to federal agencies or law enforcement outside of Virginia without a valid court order. Now, it's important to note these Flock cameras, they didn't spring up overnight in Alexandria. They have been around for several years. Again, there are 61 of them. But there is a growing movement called Deflock Alexandria that is hoping to not only get these removed, but also stay away from any similar vendors that use automated license plate readers. We've seen the misconduct, we've seen people being pulled and gunpointed by the police when it turned out that there was a misreading of the plate. So there's more danger to our personal lives and liberties as well. And we want to strike a balance. We just don't think in our community, Flock or any other system will work. They're okay, I guess, if you're looking for somebody, but you're going to use them in the right way. I don't really have a problem with it. You know Big Brother's always watching. So you're a damn fool if you do anything wrong, right? Get a job. That's the way I look at it. So the mayor and council asked the city manager and APD to do some research on if other vendors could be used when this Flock contract expires, but as you heard, not everyone is in favor of that. Some want these ALPRs gone entirely. There is a Deflock community meeting at Brook Library 530 next Monday. It is open to the public to discuss next steps. Jim Marina. Helma, thank you. Let's talk about that.