Mount Vernon defends use of Flock license-plate readers, says department avoided data breaches

Chief Dan Christman defended the Mount Vernon Police Department’s use of Flock automated license-plate readers (ALPRs), saying six cameras at major ingress and egress points help investigators solve vehicle-mobility crimes while the department has taken steps to limit external access to data.

"It's not like we have dozens of them out there. We have 6," Christman said, describing the cameras’ placement on major routes into and out of the city. He explained investigators narrow searches by vehicle descriptors and time windows (for example, a dark four-door sedan between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m.) and that Flock returns photos of vehicles that meet those filters; the data then provides license-plate leads for investigators.

Christman cited several success stories: a human-trafficking recovery where vehicle data helped locate a victim, a child-abduction case handled elsewhere in the state that Flock cameras helped resolve within about an hour, identification of vehicles in a drive-by shooting, and recoveries of stolen vehicles and leads in graffiti cases.

Acknowledging privacy concerns and reports of data breaches elsewhere, Christman said Mount Vernon was one of the agencies the University of Washington review found had no breach. "We were one of those. We had no breach of data," he said. He added that the department set tight parameters in the vendor software, excluded out-of-state agencies from access and "have accepted no requests from out of state agencies."

Christman also noted a remaining vulnerability: information released through public-records requests. He said he expected the state legislative session to consider bills to address public-records access to ALPR data, but the interview did not specify bill language or sponsors.

The chief described ALPRs as a force multiplier that does not replace officers but provides continuous monitoring and real-time alerts (AMBER alerts, stolen-vehicle flags, people-of-interest notices) that assist investigators and partner agencies when crimes involve mobility.

Christman said Mount Vernon’s use of Flock, the placement of guardrails and the department’s policy choices are ultimately subject to elected city leadership, who must balance privacy concerns and crime-fighting benefits.