BOULDER, Colo. – You’ve probably driven past them without even knowing, cameras attached to traffic signals.
While there are several companies who make/operate this technology, most of these cameras are operated by a company known as Flock.
Flock Safety Cameras are a tool law enforcement agency across the state and country use to track down suspects of crimes while they are on the road, by scanning license plates and sending that information back to police as they work to get a match.
While some people in Boulder aren’t too bothered by them.
“I don't have a huge concern if that's a useful tool,” said Rob Rosner. “I know that technology obviously now everything's kind of on camera, so." Others feel they are an invasion of privacy.
“My number one concern is that we've seen historically that when massive amounts of data are collected about people without their consent there, we can't trust it to be used responsibly,” explained Amina, who asked we not use her last name for this story.
Recently state lawmakers introduced a bill that would prohibit government entities from accessing a database that would disclose a person or vehicle's historical location.
There would be exceptions in certain cases.
Senate Bill 26-070 would also prevent any governmental entity from sharing that information with third parties or other agencies outside their jurisdictions.
Flock has told Denver7 that license plate data is stored with local police for 30 days before being deleted, and data is shared with other agencies- only on a limited basis.
Advocacy groups have told us- that's just not enough.
"When you have automatic license plate readers that can identify all the cars in the vicinity of an abortion clinic, or a political protest or the headquarters of an activist organization, it's really concerning,” said Staff Attorney at the ACLU of Colorado Laura Moffat, during a previous interview on Flock cameras in May of 2024.
The bill will go in front of the senate judiciary committee on Monday.
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Folks Denver7 talked to said they'd like to see more change soon.
"This type of mass surveillance, it seems to me, is largely targeting people who have committed sort of minor trespasses, and potentially the impact on actually preventing massive or terrifying crimes is probably less impactful than it might be advertised," Aminia detailed.
While in Boulder, we reached out to several law enforcement agencies in the county. Boulder PD declined Denver7’s request for an interview and referred us to their FAQ page for any and all information regarding the department’s Flock policy.
We also reached out to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, Louisville Police and Lafayette Police, but did not hear back.
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