ITHACA, N.Y. — The Ithaca City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to terminate the city’s contract with Flock Safety and halt the use of the company’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered traffic cameras by the Ithaca Police Department (IPD). The move comes after months of criticism from anti-surveillance activists and just over two years after city officials approved the initial contract.
The City Council directed the city attorney and city manager to terminate the contract with Georgia-based Flock Safety “as soon as practicable.”
Flock’s camera takes photos of every vehicle that passes within range. The company’s AI-based software collects data from photos into a database that law enforcement can use to estimate the path of search vehicles.
Common Council members and activists cited a lack of trust in Flock and concerns about the vast amount of data collected by the cameras and the potential for abuse, especially in the face of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Police departments can choose to share the data they collect with other law enforcement agencies that also use Flock. IPD limits access to Flock data to law enforcement agencies within Tompkins County and the New York State Crime Analysis Center.
Federal law enforcement agencies do not have direct access to IPD data, but the city’s contract with Flock requires the company to release footage to federal “law enforcement agencies, government officials, or third parties” if legally required.
Ithaca is a “sanctuary city,” meaning IPD is prohibited from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. The possibility that federal immigration enforcement authorities could use data collected by Flock in Ithaca has both elected officials and activists concerned.
“I don’t trust this administration of the federal government to uphold the law. They’re killing people,” Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo said, apparently referring to victims like Renee Good and Alex Preti, who were killed by federal agents in January.
“I don’t know if I could live with myself if we allowed something to exist in our community that directly or indirectly leads to a violation of someone’s civil liberties,” Cantelmo said.
Katie Church, a member of the local anti-surveillance activist group Flock Off, said she feels the city’s continued contract with the company only helps “Big Brother.”
“We can find other ways to find stolen cars. IPD primarily claims that flocking is used for this,” Church told City Council members Wednesday. “By using this technology, we are in direct violation of our promise to become a sanctuary city, and there has never been a time when we need to stand stronger in that promise.”
Ithaca Police Chief Thomas Kelly was on hand Wednesday night to answer questions from City Council members. Kelly said the technology is a valuable tool in the fight against crime. He said IPD has used Flock cameras in 125 “unique cases” over the past six months.
Kelly said he didn’t want to see the city “cut off his nose to save face” by terminating Flock’s contract early.
Councilman Joe Kirby, like other city council members, said his main concern is with the company that developed the technology, not with the Ithaca Police Department.
“I have the utmost respect for what you do and for the people who work for you and the law enforcement officers in town,” Kirby told Kelly. “Actually, it’s a flock. It’s a company. I think that’s the bigger concern, at least for me.”
The city’s $70,000 contract with Flock is fully funded by state grants aimed at combating gun violence. Even if the city ends the contract early, it is unlikely that the subsidy money will be returned.
New York State Department of Criminal Justice officials told the city Wednesday that terminating the contract early will not jeopardize Ithaca’s eligibility for similar state funding in the future, said Councilmember Robin Trumbull. Recent news has given some City Council members the confidence to terminate Flock’s contract with the city.
Tompkins County received the same grant and used it to finance its own contract with Flock. County lawmakers last year avoided a proposal not to renew the county’s contract with Flock because doing so would have effectively eliminated the remaining grant money.
The new policy applies to 22 devices installed as part of IPD’s contract with Flock. This is only a portion of the Flock cameras installed within the Ithaca city limits.
Other law enforcement agencies, including the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office and the Cornell University Police Department, also operate cameras in the city through their own contracts with Flock. These contracts are not under the jurisdiction of the Common Council.
