DENVER (KDVR) — Denver Mayor Mike Johnston announced on Wednesday that the city will extend a contract with license plate reader company Flock Safety, but it shut off all outside data access and will enforce penalties for sharing data with the federal government.
The contract extension will last five months at no cost “to evaluate unprecedented and strict new measures that ensure, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that license plate readers (LPRs) are used transparently and within local and state law,” the mayor’s office said in a press release.
The new measures include shutting off all access to city data to outside agencies without a memorandum of understanding with the city and a $100,000 fine for Flock Safety when data is shared with the federal government.
Additionally, Flock will only allow search terms in Denver’s data for a select number of crimes, and no searches will be permitted that relate to immigration or reproductive healthcare, according to the mayor’s office.
“In Denver, we believe you can be a city that is just as tough on fighting crime as it is protecting someone’s civil liberties,” Johnston said in a press release. “That’s why we’re taking steps not seen anywhere else in the country to ensure this technology is wielded responsibly and that our data stays out of the federal government’s hands.”
This comes as access to local license plate reading data comes under scrutiny amid concerns of federal agencies under the Trump administration using the data for civil immigration enforcement, which Colorado law prohibits state and local agencies from assisting.
The Denver City Council in May voted down a contract extension with Flock Safety, but Johnston in August approved a contract extension that was just under the cost amount that needed a council vote, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado.
The ACLU has been urging city officials to “turn off Flock cameras,” and this week had scheduled a town hall with community leaders to discuss the cameras.
The contract extension will last through the end of March 2026, when the mayor’s office will, assuming all the conditions of the new extension are met, present a contract for a long-term agreement to the city council for approval.
The mayor’s office said the license plate reader program has been a “game-changer” in public safety in Denver and that the readers have help the Denver Police Department recover 39 firearms, make 352 arrests, recover more than 250 stolen vehicles, and resulted in the capture of individuals suspected of sexual assault, murder, and fatal hit-and-runs.
“It is not an exaggeration to say that individuals suspected of the worst crimes could still be on the streets if not for this technology,” said Police Chief Ron Thomas. “Denver Police have always used license plate readers responsibly and we will continue to do so under these new safeguards.”
The mayor’s office said “there has been no evidence of Denver’s Flock data being used for civil immigration enforcement.”
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
