The Centralia Police Department plans to continue using Flock Safety cameras installed around the city despite privacy concerns and other jurisdictions shutting Flock Safety cameras off over concerns that photos could be used by out of state law enforcement or be subject to public records requests.
Centralia Police Chief Andy Caldwell gave a presentation
on the city’s Flock Safety camera system to the Centralia City Council last week during its meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 25. Caldwell addressed public concerns with the security system, but also said he has seen no evidence for real concerns over the cameras in Centralia.
Caldwell went on to describe the system as a vital tool that actively increases safety in the community. According to Caldwell, the cameras help the department to find stolen cars, verify hit-and-run claims, find cars linked to abductions and solve other crimes.
“About two years ago, we had an ATM theft ring that was impacting seven different counties,” Caldwell said. “It was solved by Flock Safety in the city of Centralia, based on our Flock Safety cameras that had nothing to do with the people or individuals. Just had to do with being able to track a generic vehicle description to the point of getting a license plate to the point of identifying a suspect.”
Flock Safety cameras have faced some public pushback, especially recently as many members of the public raise concerns that the cameras are a form of mass surveillance.
Flock Safety has also been in the news consistently over the last year. Most recently, a Skagit County Superior Court judge ruled that the photos taken by Flock cameras could be requested by the public through a formal public records request, raising security and privacy concerns.
The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office was among jurisdictions to turn off the cameras following the decision.
Before that, news came out that federal agents and law enforcement from other states had accessed Flock photos for immigration enforcement.
Caldwell attempted to address all of the concerns in turn, starting by assuring the Centralia City Council and others in the room that the Flock system is not used for surveillance.
“Flock is an investigative tool that's only used under reasonable suspicion or probable cause,” he said. “It is not used for general surveillance. There is nobody in the police department who actively sits there and watches for vehicles to come through.”
The chief added that under Centralia Police Department policy the camera system and the photos it takes are treated as protected information and can only be accessed by officers under specific circumstances.
Next, Caldwell touched on public disclosure and public records requests, stating that he believes the city should weather the storm of public records requests that may come. Caldwell also said that the local police department has changed how it will handle public requests for Flock camera photos based on the recent court ruling from a judge in Skagit County.
Caldwell said that the local department will begin filling bulk requests for Flock photos to avoid being targeted by records requesters who might be searching for cities that violate public records law in order to file legal challenges in hopes of a financial settlement. Those bulk requests will be filled in the “most efficient format possible”; that will not include a search feature, making them difficult to navigate or find individual personal information.
He added the city will also screen the requests and send out third-party notifications when necessary. He hopes that will help with individual privacy concerns. While the city could not withhold a request if there were concerns over stalking or safety, the city would notify an individual that their information had been requested.
Later in the evening, Caldwell also addressed concerns that the city’s cameras could be used by federal agents or other states for immigration enforcement or to track those seeking medical services in Washington. The chief stated that he had turned off data sharing for law enforcement outside the state of Washington.
He added that having data sharing with neighboring cities and counties is useful to find suspects. Other state departments are also prohibited from using the photos for immigration enforcement by state law under the Keep Washington Working Act.
“The power of the tool is that agencies inside the state of Washington were all sharing information,” Caldwell said. “So when that murder suspect from Lacey comes into Centralia, we know it. We can stop it.”
Caldwell also said that a “backdoor” maneuver that allowed federal agents to access Flock information previously had been closed and that Flock said the city’s data had not been accessed in that way.
Finally, Caldwell addressed recent news that the state might seek to create rules around the use of Flock Safety cameras in the 2026 legislative session. Caldwell seemed open to the idea but argued that the current proposal for photos to be deleted after a 72-hour period seemed too short.
“Retention of 72 hours is going to be pretty rough on law enforcement,” Caldwell said. “For example, crime happens on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, and our detectives don't come back in until Monday. We've just lost all that data.”
After Caldwell’s presentation, Centralia Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston commented on the presentation, thanking Caldwell for his transparency on the issue. She also claimed that the City of Centralia’s stolen vehicle rates have dropped and the rates of recovering stolen vehicles have increased. She credited the Flock camera system for that progress.
“We continue as a city to be innovative and intentional about using tools that we have available for public safety, and I think our police department acts with very high integrity,” she said.
Last month, Caldwell penned an open letter to the community detailing the department’s use of the Flock camera system.
“To build even greater trust, the Centralia Police Department is taking a proactive step toward increasing transparency,” Caldwell wrote. “Beginning Dec. 1, we will publish bi-monthly audits of our Flock Safety usage directly on the Centralia Police Department website (https://www.cityofcentralia.com/254/Police). These reports, drawn from Flock's comprehensive activity logs, will detail the date and time of each query, along with a brief description of its purpose, such as supporting a burglary investigation or hit-and-run response.”
