With Denver’s contract with automated license plate reader company Flock Safety set to expire at the end of March, few alternative vendors have surfaced.

Meanwhile, Denver City Auditor Tim O’Brien is refusing to countersign the contract, citing concerns over “a risk of liability for the city.”

It’s the latest development in the debate over the cameras. Critics have claimed that Flock Safety shares data with federal immigration authorities, while supporters said the cameras are helping to combat crime. Flock itself has insisted it does not work with immigration authorities and the data its cameras collect is controlled by the client — be it a city, school or a private organization.

In a Feb. 17 letter to Denver Chief of Police Ron Thomas, O’Brien wrote that personally identifiable information “collected by the Denver Police Department through Flock surveillance is at risk of being shared with other law enforcement agencies or municipalities.”

During the auditor’s review of the contract and relevant city documents, the Department of Public Safety was not able to provide assurances that personally identifiable information is secure and that prohibited information is not disseminated, a spokesperson for O’Brien’s office told The Denver Gazette.

O’Brien said his review of the contract was “unnecessarily delayed,” adding that his office waited weeks for delivery of requested documents.

“Many documents arrived with critical information redacted,” he wrote. “I was told I was not privy to certain documents, requiring me to explain my duties as auditor before finally receiving the necessary information to conduct an appropriate review of the contract.”

Michael Brannen of the auditor’s office said eight councilmembers sent O’Brien a letter raising concerns about the contract and asking him not to sign it. 

“This Flock contract situation is unprecedented,” said Brannen, adding that receiving such a letter over a contract concern was a first for him as a Denver auditor.

At-large Councilmember Sarah Parady told The Denver Gazette that the safeguard in Denver’s charter requiring the auditor to review contracts for potential liability is a core protection city residents.

“Underscoring the seriousness of the auditor’s decision, I am not aware of another instance where the auditor has concluded that he cannot sign a contract under this charter provision,” Parody said. “The only appropriate response by the city executive branch is to end any data collection by Flock via its cameras.”

The city is currently exploring alternatives to Flock, including Arizona-based Axon, (formerly TASER International) a major developer of law enforcement technologies, including body-worn cameras and weapons.

The city has issued an informal request for proposals, and multiple informed sources told The Denver Gazette’s news partner 9News that Axon and Motorola are expected to compete for the contract. 

City officials said that, while the contract becomes effective upon the mayor’s signature, the auditor is still required by the city charter to countersign the contract.  

“To be clear, the auditor’s role is to determine whether the city has obtained proper approvals, completed necessary paperwork, and ensured there is enough money in the budget to carry out a contract, all of which have been done,” Jon Ewing, who speaks for Mayor Mike Johnston, told The Denver Gazette. “The responsibility of providing legal analysis is carried by the City Attorney’s Office, which thoroughly vetted this contract and confirmed there is no lawful basis for the Auditor to withhold his signature.”

Last October, Johnston announced that the city would be extending its contract with the Atlanta-based technology company and that the extension would come at no cost to the city. Under the extension, the camera security company must abide by several stipulations, notably the prohibition against sharing its data with federal authorities.

Security technology researcher Benn Jordan, who has documented security vulnerabilities on Flock’s system, is skeptical that switching vendors would address the core issues.

“I wouldn’t see moving to Axon as an improvement from Flock Safety,” Jordan said, adding that City Council aides have reached out to him for his views.

Jordan said Flock and Axon offer similar data-collecting automated license plate reader systems. The systems can livestream video, determine a vehicle’s make, model, and color, and can do more than just “read a plate.”

“They make money off of data,” Jordan added.

Flock confirmed it submitted a new proposal to the city, but the mayor’s office has said the new contract will require the approval of the City Council, which presents a significant hurdle given councilmembers’ opposition to the company.

“We are currently fielding bids for license plate reader services,” Jon Ewing told 9News. “The chosen provider will be weighed on several factors and will be required to comply with an exhaustive list of expectations regarding data retention, information sharing, and access limitations.”

The city confirmed that if it chose to, it could simply extend its partnership with Flock, whose contract expires next month, without opening up a new Request For Proposal bidding process.

Faced with staffing shortages, law enforcement agencies have deployed technology to help fill critical gaps and clear cases, often referring to the camera system as a “force multiplier,” a military term that refers to a resource that enhances a unit’s combat power beyond what its raw troop numbers and capacities may suggest.

“The reality is it’s really hard to hire good police officers these days. In a perfect world, Denver PD would be able to be at 100% staffing, 100% of the time,” Josh Thomas, Flock Safety’s chief of communications, told The Denver Gazette. “There’s a lot of primary research that shows, if we can invest in policing, crime rates go down, and it increases our economic output as a city.”

Denver police have credited a notable reduction in auto theft to the city’s network of license plate reading cameras.

“Since just last year, the cameras have helped provide evidence for nine homicide investigations and 19 violent gun crime investigations, led to 275 arrests, and helped recover more than 180 stolen vehicles and at least 29 firearms,” a spokesperson for Johnston’s office said.

While not all of the solved cases can be directly attributed to the cameras, officials note they contribute along with other department programs.

Last summer, burglars dressed as construction workers broke into a high-end Hyde Park jewelry store inside the Cherry Creek Mall and stole more than $12 million in jewelry, according to court documents.

Even though the truck did not have a license plate, detectives were able to use the Flock system to track the vehicle to the location where the suspects had purchased the tools to aid their entry into the store. 

To read more, visit The Denver Gazette’s news partner 9News at this link.