Renton City Council votes to physically cover Flock cameras, first policy in western U.S.

Renton city leaders voted 6-1 to add covers to the city's array of Flock cameras at a city council meeting Aug. 3, a measure taken up officially by only a handful of jurisdictions across the U.S.

The cameras were already inactive as of May 4, though Renton police still have use of other Automated License Plate Reading (ALPR) technology.

Renton joins city leaders in Dayton, OH; Evanston, IL; and Verona, WI. All 23 cameras in Renton will be covered, but it's not yet clear when, and with what — Dayton, Evanston and Verona all used black trash bags.

The decision comes after almost a year of public scrutiny and back-and-forth by the city council and police department, with leaders weighing the cameras' use as crime-response tools against public trust of the technology.

For Renton City Council member Carmen Rivera, covering the cameras is a worthwhile precaution. Flock is a data-collection company first and a public safety company second, she said, and the company's track record in other use cases does not inspire confidence.

"We've been hearing a lot of concerns around transparency and trust, and I think it's in the best direction to help foster that by listening to the public," said Rivera. "The cameras are already paused, they're not collecting anything. If it's safe and it's within the purview of our staff to do it, I think it's something that is an easy, simple fix that tells the residents that we're listening."

Councilmember James Alberson disagreed, saying that adding covers to the cameras creates a complicated perception of Renton police. 

"By adding these covers, are we saying that we don't know if RPD (Renton Police Department) knows whether the cameras are on or off?" Alberson asked during the Aug. 3 meeting.

Councilmember Kim-Khánh Văn noted that Renton Police reactivated the cameras in April without issuing a community notice — not even to city council, added Rivera — which eroded public trust in the agency.

"It's a real fear, for our community getting disappeared," said Văn.

A July study from the University of Washington noted that federal agents have continued to use state license plate data to aid immigration arrests, seizing 86 people between Aug. 2025 and Aug. 3, 2026.

The conversation about Flock cameras in Renton started in October 2025, after a study by the University of Washington revealed holes in the data security system of the technology.

The UW audit indicated that Renton's system was one of at least 17 agencies throughout the state that had been compromised. According to researchers, Flock's programming allowed U.S. Border Patrol agents "back door" access to Renton's camera array — and the department had mined Renton's data several times without authorization from the city or Renton Police.

In Renton, law enforcement "immediately paused all external data sharing" through Flock, said Police Chief Jon Schuldt, but the realization prompted public backlash statewide and drove lawmakers to implement guardrails around the use of ALPRs. 

On March 30, Gov. Bob Ferguson signed Senate Bill 6002 into law, which outlined some limits to police use of the technology and expressly banned others. 

Police can only use ALPRs during the investigation of felonies or gross misdemeanors, when searching for stolen vehicles or vehicles registered to people with arrest warrants, or for searching for missing or endangered people. The cameras expressly cannot be used for immigration enforcement or tracking protected activities, like free speech or seeking abortions, and they cannot be placed near schools, food banks, courts or places of worship.

In April, Renton shut its Flock cameras off and began to overhaul the system to assess any potential violations of the new state law, address public concerns, and establish new procedures, including training and reporting systems, according to Schuldt.

But the cameras were reactivated without much fanfare. At a routine casual community outreach event April 21 called "What's Brewing with Ed," Renton Chief Administrative Officer Ed VanValey shared the news that the cameras were back on, according to the Renton Signal. The next day, Renton Police department officers shared a press release and a post on social media making the same announcement.

The city council voted to turn the cameras back off May 4, to the consternation of Chief Schuldt.

"I will continue to advocate for the responsible use of this tool because it makes our department more effective and efficient in providing services, solving crimes, enhancing safety for the Renton community, and bringing justice for victims," Schuldt wrote.

The city of Renton's "Flock Transparency Portal" states that seven Washington agencies have access to Renton Flock data: Auburn, Des Moines, Enumclaw, Mill Creek, Tukwila police departments, as well as the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office and the Port of Seattle. On a press release webpage, the city notes that Flock cameras are only permitted on state highways in the area.

According to DeFlock, a public, open-source mapping project that tracks the location ALPRs, most of Renton's license-plate reading cameras are near the Boeing airfield, with a few clusters around Northeast 3rd Street near I-405, state Route 167 near the Walmart, and the Lowe's in The Landing shopping mall.