What happened Friday
Flock Safety deactivated Alexandria's 61 license plate reader cameras at 9:05 a.m. Friday, the police department said. The Alexandria Brief reported that police spokesperson Tracy Walker confirmed the time when asked.
The deactivation came three days after Police Chief Tarrick McGuire told City Council he had canceled the contract. The city's license plate reader page now says the cameras are decommissioned, according to the report.
What are the next steps for the cameras?
The department said Tuesday what it plans to do:
- Run its own check on Monday to confirm the cameras are no longer reading.
- Retain data tied to active investigations.
- Disable all user access by Dec. 1.
- Have the vendor remove the cameras by the end of December.
The city owns the poles, according to the report. It does not say what happens to the poles after the equipment is removed.
What changes for drivers?
The decision covers the city's 61 cameras, and those are the ones that stopped reading Friday. The report says nothing about cameras run by a neighboring city, the county, the state, a business or an HOA, so those are not addressed here. You can check the camera map to see what is mapped near you.
The report does not say whether any driver's plate will stop being recorded by other systems.
What is still unknown?
The vendor's transparency portal is still live. Police say what happens to it is up to Flock. The report does not say when the portal will come down or whether it will keep showing Alexandria data.
The report also does not say what the city will use in place of the cameras, if anything.
What to ask the city
Residents can ask the department whether the Monday check was completed, what data is being kept for active investigations and for how long, and whether the portal will still show Alexandria records after December. The city's agency transparency records are a useful starting point. For background on what these cameras record and how the data is shared, see how plate readers work.
The next dates are Monday, when police plan to run their check, and Dec. 1, when user access is to be disabled. Removal of the cameras is due by the end of December.