Councilman Danny Hang discussed the impact ICE raids have had on immigrant communities. (photo by Jon Viscott)

The West Hollywood City Council discussed potentially shutting off license plate-capturing cameras, at least temporarily, at its Feb. 2 meeting. The item, brought forward by Councilman John Erickson and Councilwoman Chelsea Byers, calls for staff to review its camera agreement with Flock Safety “to ensure camera data is kept private and not shared with federal immigration enforcement agencies.”

The issue has become one of national concern after an audit showed that federal agencies have been able to access footage from the cameras in some databases, according to CBS News. Flock Safety – one of the most popular companies to provide these camera services – has denied the allegation, however, going as far as to add a FAQ regarding ICE to its website.

“Flock does not work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or any other sub-agency of the Department of Homeland Security,” a statement on the company website reads.

Additionally, a spokesperson for Flock told the Beverly Press that “each customer that uses Flock fully owns and controls 100% of its data.”

“Flock NEVER sells data,” the spokesperson wrote. “Agencies decide if, when and with whom to share information, and every search in the system requires a documented reason and is logged for accountability. To make compliance with California laws easier for agencies, Flock disabled the ability for California agencies to access National Lookup feature, blocked out-of-state discoverability, prevented initiating new out-of-state/federal shares and assisted customers with auditing their sharing relationships. It is not possible, through Flock, for California agencies to create sharing relationships that would share data out of state or to federal agencies. Additionally, Flock implemented a search filter feature across the state that automatically flags and blocks keywords for prohibited searches involving immigration and reproductive health care.”

West Hollywood’s review, though, will look at other companies to potentially contract with for camera services, and Byers argued that the action was about keeping the community’s safety as the council’s primary concern.

“We recognize that these cameras have provided safety mechanisms for our own community’s needs, and this is part of the problem that this federal government has thrown us into,” Byers said. “What they are calling public safety is harming our local communities in such devastating ways that we are making consequential decisions around investments we have made in our own technology here. And this is a difficult decision that we have to wrestle with as a council, and we see councils across this country wrestling with it.”

Mayor John Heilman cautioned against turning off the cameras altogether, citing the reasons they were initially installed.

“Obviously, I think everyone on this council is appalled by the criminal actions of the federal government – the targeting of immigrants, the targeting of protesters,” Heilman said. “I think this item, as I’m interpreting it, is asking staff for additional information about how the Flock cameras are used, and how the data from those cameras could be accessed. I do not support getting rid of those cameras. I think we would be endangering the safety of our residents by doing so. There are a lot of cameras. There are cameras in this room. I don’t think we would be recommending that we cut off the cameras for the council meetings. I don’t think we would recommend that all of the businesses that have security cameras get rid of them … I think the camera technology that we invested in was a way of trying to not only protect our residents but ensure that when those kind of incidents occur, that the sheriff’s department and our public safety staff have the tools to identify the perpetrators who are coming into our community and engaging in acts of violence.”

Meister pointed out that cameras and data proliferate throughout present day society.

“Before we go shutting off the cameras, we have to understand that you also have to shut off your cell phone. You also have to shut off your computer with your Facebook and deactivate. And so I understand … where this is coming from, but this is not necessarily the answer to this problem, because it’s gone much further than this,” Meister said.

“I think before we make any major decisions, this [item] is asking us to get all the data, to understand what’s actually going on, to make sure our public safety camera data and access is not shared with any federal immigration enforcement agencies,” Erickson said. “It’s dangerous, and so we need to be a city that upholds, I think, that promise to look into this.”

Vice Mayor Danny Hang asked West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station Capt. Fanny Lapkin what the “department policy” was on sharing such data.

“We do not share any data specifically with any federal agents or ICE on that, and the only people that have access to the cameras [are] station personnel,” Lapkin responded.

When asked by Erickson about Flock’s policy on sharing data, the city’s director of community safety Danny Rivas said that the company’s representatives said, “they do not have a contract with ICE, and that they have not shared data.” Rivas did add, however, that he hadn’t spoken directly with the Flock legal team about specifics of dealing with federal immigration agents.

Meister emphasized that the cameras might be developed by Flock, but “they’re our cameras” and confirmed with staff that the city could change camera vendors “if we find that [Flock is] not acceptable.”

“We’re not terminating anything tonight, but I at least want to have the data so we can be as public and transparent with the public, and also then make sure that we’re doing everything right and upholding our city’s values, virtues and morals,” Erickson said.

Byers advocated for immediately shutting off the Flock cameras, though this direction was not included in the council’s final, unanimous approval of the item.

“Cities have already made a decision to turn off their cameras. That doesn’t mean terminate their contract. That doesn’t mean get rid of the cameras. It means recognize that we have enough information from cities across the country who are facing the same level of immigration threats and working with the same vendor, that they have already made a decision to turn off their cameras to protect their community in the face of immoral immigration proceedings by our federal government,” Byers said. “This is one of the few and specific ways we as a city can take action to be in noncompliance and non-cooperation with the federal government, and I think we should not wait to make the decision that many cities have already made in turning off those cameras.”

Hang thanked Erickson and Byers for bringing the item forward, emphasizing the position of immigrants and people of color.

“This is a trying time for our community, for our immigrant community … of the people sitting up here, I’m the one that’s going to be most likely to be picked up by ICE, not any one of my colleagues up here,” Hang said.