Start with the national picture: the ACLU’s Get the Flock Out campaign lays out the general case against ALPR networks like Flock Safety’s. Below is what’s specific to Renton.
(We are not affiliated with the ACLU, but ACLU WA wrote a letter to the Renton City Council in July 2026 opposing Renton’s ALPR system.)
Does Renton use Flock/ALPR?
Yes. Renton Police Department uses three automated license plate reader (ALPR) systems:
- Flock Falcon — fixed cameras, which the city says are placed only on state highways
- Axon — in-car ALPRs
- Genetec — ALPRs in parking enforcement vehicles
Who is affected?
Every car that passes one of these cameras is part of a national network processing over 20 billion plate reads per month across 49 states and thousands of connected law enforcement agencies. You don’t need to be a suspect, or ever be investigated for anything, to end up in this database.
What if I don’t mind having my picture taken?
A single photo of your license plate isn’t the concern. The concern is what happens after the photo:
- It’s not one photo, it’s a searchable database of your movements. Every camera you pass gets logged with a timestamp and location. String enough of those together and you get a record of where someone goes, how often, and when. Renton’s own numbers illustrate the scale: officers manually reviewed just 461 photos, but in an 11-day window, the cameras captured and stored about 5.2 million images.
- It doesn’t stay local. Renton’s data is retained for at least 21 days and is shared across a regional network — Auburn, Des Moines, Enumclaw, Tukwila, Port of Seattle, Mill Creek, and the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office all have access, plus Flock Safety itself. A documented case (via UW Center for Human Rights, from Renton’s own audit logs) shows U.S. Border Patrol accessed Renton’s data in June 2025, which Renton hadn’t authorized.
- You don’t get to consent, opt out, or find out who looked you up. There’s no way to know if your movements were pulled in a search, for what reason, or by which of the dozens of agencies with access. The audit trail exists, but it isn’t public, and in Renton’s case, it’s reviewed by the police department itself, not by an independent body.
- The data is only as secure as the system holding it. The internet is full of “How to Hack Flock” videos. In some cases, they don’t even need a ladder, just Wi-Fi.
- Once the infrastructure exists, its use tends to expand. The cameras aren’t just reading plates: Flock’s AI also builds a “vehicle fingerprint” that can identify a car without ever reading the plate at all, and can flag travel patterns. Today there are rules that limit the data’s use, but those rules could change tomorrow. If you want to know how Flock wants to use your data, you don’t need to look further than the Flock Safety marketing materials.
This doesn’t happen in Renton, though. Right?
Wrong. A University of Washington Center for Human Rights investigation (“Leaving the Door Wide Open,” Oct. 2025) found that Renton’s own Flock audit logs show U.S. Border Patrol searched Renton’s ALPR data twice on June 23, 2025, and that Renton had not explicitly authorized that access. Renton was one of at least 17 Washington agencies where Border Patrol accessed local ALPR data, in some cases without the local department’s knowledge.
Don’t we need these cameras?
No. The City and RPD have provided no evidence or justification for these cameras. Renton has below average crime rates nationally, and the city was proud to report that in 2025 crime was dropping significantly without those cameras.
Why did The City Council approve of this?
They didn’t. The initial rollout had no public review or council vote.
Where do things stand in Renton right now?
- March 2026 — Renton paused ALPR to come into compliance with SB 6002.
- April 2026 — Cameras reactivated.
- May 4, 2026 — Council voted 4–3 to pause again, following heavy public opposition.
- July 6, 2026 — A motion to un-pause failed; instead, council voted to require all members to complete Flock/RPD-provided training before revisiting the question.
- Today — Cameras remain paused. No vote has been scheduled to permanently end the program or restart it.
Have other cities been successful at removing ALPRs?
In Washington State, efforts by DeFlock Redmond, DeFlock Lynnwood, DeFlock Olympia, and communities in Mountlake Terrace, Edmonds, and Sedro-Woolley have been successful.
- Sedro-Woolley disabled their Flock cameras in June 2025.
- Redmond City Council voted to suspend their ALPR program in November 2025.
- Mountlake Terrace City Council voted to terminate their contract with Flock in December 2025.
- Olympia City Council voted to temporarily suspend their contract with Flock in December 2025.
- Lynnwood City Council voted unanimously to terminate their contract with Flock in February 2026.
- Edmonds City Council voted to terminate their contract with Flock in May 2026.
DeFlock Everett is actively working to suspend their city’s ALPR program, too.
Across the country, over 30 cities in multiple states have been successful at suspending their city’s ALPR program or terminating their city’s ALPR contracts altogether.
What can I do?
See our Take Action page.
Where else can I learn more information?
How ALPRs work (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
Where ALPRs are located across the country (DeFlock)
How ALPRs have been misused (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
ALPR abuse library (Kansas Watch)
How AI in ALPRs is flawed (404 Media)
Concerns around Flock’s Terms & Conditions (ACLU)
Concerns around Axon’s ethics (Policing Project)
Concerns that Axon meddled in local elections (ABC)
How Flock ignores laws (Forbes)
How Flock fails to decrease crime (Forbes)
How Flock employees accessed local ALPR data (Benn Jordan on YouTube)
How Flock cameras are hacked (Benn Jordan on YouTube)
DeFlock Renton 