SYRACUSE, NY (NCC News) – Syracuse Common Councilors voted unanimously on Jan. 26 to remove a Flock automatic license plate reader (ALPR) at Headson Drive and Thompson Road, a camera owned by the town of DeWitt but installed on city property.
Thirteen Flock cameras remain in Syracuse, despite city lawmakers trying to remove them since November.
The vote follows revelations that Syracuse police data appeared in more than 2,000 immigration-related searches through Flock Safety’s national database. According to Central Current, Police officials said they opted into data sharing with another agency but were unaware it would enroll Syracuse in a broader network accessible to thousands of law enforcement agencies nationwide, including immigration officials.
“I’m not comfortable with someone else owning our data,” said Marion. “[Flock] have a history of relationships sharing information with ICE and other law enforcement agencies that may not share the values of the people of Syracuse.”
Daniel Schwarz, senior privacy and technology strategist at the New York Civil Liberties Union and a member of the city’s Surveillance Technology Working Group, said Flock’s business model encourages broad access.
“Flock is really facilitating the widespread sharing of that information, and they use dark patterns that incentivize the wide sharing of that data,” Schwarz said. “We have learned of how ICE has gotten access to ALPR reads through Flock.”
The original contract with Flock Safety, signed in October 2023, was valued at $250,000 for 26 cameras, though only 13 were installed before the termination effort began.
Flock denied wrongdoing, telling NCC News, Syracuse “exercises sole and absolute control over its own data.” The company said it intends to enforce its contract, which runs through fall 2027.
Video Transcript:
Matthew Davison:
When you leave the parking lot at Destiny USA, there’s a good chance one of these cameras caught you.
They’re license plate readers—tracking every car that comes and goes. Thirteen of them line Syracuse streets, owned by a company called Flock Safety.
The city has been trying to remove them since November. So why are they still up? City leaders say the problem isn’t the cameras, it’s the company.
Alexander Marion, City Auditor
“I’m not comfortable with someone else owning our data. They have a history of relationships sharing information with ICE and other law enforcement agencies that may not share the values of the people of Syracuse.”
Matthew Davison:
According to Syracuse police, city data appeared in more than two-thousand immigration-related searches through Flock’s national database.
In response, councilors introduced legislation in November to terminate the contract.
Jessica Maxwell, Workers Center of CNY
“It’s moments like this—when we see technology being abused—that people stop and say, ‘I didn’t think about that.’ That’s why it’s important to pause and not rush decisions like these.”
Matthew Davison
Flock denies wrongdoing, saying Syracuse “exercises sole and absolute control over its data.” The company also says it plans to enforce its contract through 2027.
Police are now proposing a replacement: Axon Enterprise—the same company that supplies the department with body cameras and drones.
Daniel Schwarz, NY Civil Liberties Union
“While Flock brings a lot of these issues into focus, other vendors can present similar risks. Without strong legal and technical safeguards, we could face the same problems again.”
Matthew Davison
One of the concerns is that Axon… holds a federal contract worth up to $370 million that U.S. Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement can use for body cameras and related tech.
Hanah Ehrenreich, Common Councilor At Large
“I think the tool can be useful, but using municipal dollars to support a company that also profits from deportation and civil rights violations is deeply troubling. It’s a classic rock-and-a-hard-place situation.”
Matthew Davison
The new deal would cost $423,000 over five years and would begin March first.
The agreement is now on the Common Council agenda, with a public hearing expected soon.
Syracuse police declined an interview that hearing is held. Axon did not respond to requests for comment.
For now, the cameras keep watching.
Matthew Davison, NCC News.
The proposed replacement, Axon Enterprise, already supplies the SPD with body cameras, drones and Tasers. A new license plate reader agreement would cost $423,000 over five years, beginning March 1 to install 26 ALPRs.
Axon also holds a federal contract worth up to $370 million with the Department of Homeland Security to provide body cameras and related technology to ICE and U.S. Border Patrol. Critics have raised concerns about whether changing vendors would resolve the underlying issues.
“While Flock brings a lot of these problems to a head, other vendors still present similar dangers,” said Schwarz. “If we’re not careful and don’t put the legal and technical restrictions to protect the data, we can be confronted with similar problems as well.”
Syracuse Common Councilor At-Large Hanah Ehrenreich acknowledged the difficulty of choosing between vendors with ties to federal immigration enforcement. She believes immigration enforcement using body cameras helps increase transparency.
“I think the use is important, even if the ethos of us using our municipal dollars to a company that also benefits from the deportation and violation of civil rights of our neighbors and friends is not something that I believe should be happening,” Ehrenreich said. “So there’s the classic paradox—rock and a hard place, damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
Jessica Maxwell of the Workers Center of Central New York urged the council to slow down before approving new surveillance contracts.
“We see in our country, a really frightening erosion of basic rights, where we see talk of maybe law enforcement having the right to enter private homes without any kind of judicial oversight,” said Maxwell. “We should really slow down these decisions about who’s implementing what kind of technology and how we’re being surveilled until we can understand and have appropriate policies and safeguards in place.”
City Auditor Alex Marion said the proposed Axon contract offers more assurances than the Flock system.
“We know how they operate. We have much more familiarity with their policies, their procedures, their corporate behavior than we did with Flock when they were coming into town,” Marion said.
A public hearing on the Axon contract has not been scheduled. Syracuse police declined to comment until that hearing is held. Axon did not respond to requests for comment.