Ventura terminates contract with Flock, looks to ban future installation of ALPR’s

Ventura City Council voted 5-2 to terminate the city s contract with Flock, joining an ever growing list of cities and states around the United States that have ended their contracts and removed Flock cameras. Ventura Police Chief David Dickey presented an overview report on the city’s automatic license plate reader program during the special meeting and dozens of public commenters provided their thoughts on the issue. “I am happy to do anything to keep this system, so that we can keep this city safe,” Dickey said. In August, the City of Santa Barbara voted to terminate their contract with Flock, leading to the subsequent removal of all Flock cameras from the city. In Ventura, thousands of unauthorized queries from out-of-state agencies prompted the city to review their contract with Flock in late September.  The Ventura Police Department operated 23 Flock cameras, at an annual cost of $69,000. According to the staff report prepared by Dickey and Ventura City Manager Bill