County leaders this week were criticized both for going too far, and not going far enough, in limiting the use of automated license-plate readers in the county.
Most who spoke on the topic at a town-hall meeting on Monday shared the view of Eric Lotke, who said county officials should permanently ban their use by local law enforcement.
Simply ending the county’s contract with Flock Safety, as Board members did in mid-September, was not enough, Lotke said.
“Let’s finish the job — ban them for good,” Lotke said at the town hall. He added, “This is not about speed cameras or red-light running. It’s literally Big Brother watching you.”
Desiree Lomer-Clarke was another pressing for a full ban on local law enforcement’s use of the equipment.
“They don’t prevent crime, which is what we really need,” she told County Board members.
Lomer-Clarke criticized Board members for failing to address the broader concerns of those who oppose the cameras. “We haven’t even gotten a response from you acknowledging it,” she said.
On the other side of the issue was John Antonelli, who criticized Board members for a lack of transparency in deciding behind closed doors to end the relationship with Flock:
“I’m wondering why there was no public hearing before the Flock contract was cut. Is the Arlington Way dead? If there was [a public hearing], we would have had a staff report, we could see there were no problems with Flock in Arlington and we would have known exactly what the controls are. Citizens could have come and given you better and more input.”
Antonelli noted three shooting incidents in the county since the cameras were turned off. He suggested that police no longer have a tool that could help to solve them.
In response to criticism coming at the County Board from both directions, Board Chair Matt de Ferranti said local leaders would work to engage the community.
“We have committed to a public process going forward,” he said.
De Ferranti voiced concerns that the Trump administration could find a way to obtain Flock footage and use it for its own ends.
“While this man is president, I will not support automated license-plate readers in Arlington,” he said. “We don’t have any reason to trust the guy.”
The County Board’s decision to end the Flock contract drew unusually strong public pushback from the county’s top public-safety officials, who argued it is an effective tool and safeguards are in place to prevent misuse.
Arlington leaders are not the only ones across Northern Virginia trying to find a balance on the issue of automated license-plate readers.
Alexandria leaders announced this week that they’ll be pulling the plug on Flock cameras following public backlash. Additionally, Fairfax County supervisors on Oct. 20 spent nearly two hours in a committee meeting devoted to the subject, but came away with no consensus.
“There are questions that still need answers,” said Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk, who chaired the supervisors’ Safety and Security Committee.
As in Arlington, Fairfax’s staff leadership pushed back against eliminating existing Flock readers used by the county government.
They represent “an essential law-enforcement tool,” said Fairfax County Police Maj. Hudson Bull, who heads the department’s Real Time Crime Center.
Tom Arnold, the county’s deputy county executive with public-safety responsibilities, said eliminating readers would lead to an increase in crime, but if supervisors wanted to consider it, that was up to them.
“The Board can take whatever action you like,” he said.
Some supervisors said they were leaning toward a ban. But others said the issue was complicated and nuanced.
“It’s not an easy thing,” Braddock District Supervisor Rachna Sizemore Heizer said. “There’s a balance of rights. I don’t know the right balance.”
At an Oct. 26 meeting, Falls Church City Manager Seth Hendler-Voss said the city government operated no automated license-plate readers and had no intention of introducing them.
