License-plate readers · Mason County

Mason County

Using license-plate readers · 1 agency documented

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Shelton Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
12
12 cameras at city entrances, per the Shelton-Mason County Journal and the Flock transparency portal (updated Sept. 1, 2025).
Contract
Flock Safety: $40,800 (year 1, incl. startup); $36,000 (year 2) year · from 2024 · approved by Shelton City Council · Two-year subscription; after startup, $3,000 per camera per year. City received a $20,400 grant toward the cost, and Our Community Credit Union later donated $21,300 for the cameras. (Shelton-Mason County Journal, Aug. 8, 2024; Shelton-Mason County Journal, Aug. 22, 2024; Shelton-Mason County Journal, Oct. 17, 2024)
  1. June 25, 2024 City Council heard a presentation on 12 Flock license plate cameras at a study session. (Shelton-Mason County Journal, July 4, 2024)
  2. Aug. 6, 2024 City Council gave preliminary approval to the Flock cameras and to asking Mason PUD 3 to allow mounting on existing power poles. (Shelton-Mason County Journal, Aug. 8, 2024; Shelton-Mason County Journal, Aug. 22, 2024)
  3. Aug. 20, 2024 City Council gave final approval to the 12-camera Flock subscription. (Shelton-Mason County Journal, Aug. 22, 2024; Shelton-Mason County Journal, Aug. 8, 2024)
  4. Oct. 2024 Our Community Credit Union donated $21,300 to the police department for Flock cameras. (Shelton-Mason County Journal, Oct. 17, 2024)
  5. Sept. 1, 2025 Transparency portal listed 12 cameras, 30-day retention and 71 sharing organizations, all labeled Washington; listed prohibited uses include immigration enforcement. (Flock Safety, Sept. 1, 2025)
Conflicts and open questions
  • The Journal reported final approval on 'Tuesday evening' (Aug. 22, 2024 brief); its Aug. 8 story said the final vote was scheduled for Aug. 20. Vote tallies not reported. Donation date not stated (story published Oct. 17, 2024).

From agency records.

Statewide

  1. 2025 A University of Washington Center for Human Rights report on Flock networks in the state said as many as 80 public agencies in Washington reportedly use Flock, and examined how agencies share the data, including with federal agencies. (University of Washington Center for Human Rights, Oct. 21, 2025)
  2. Feb. 4, 2026 The state Senate passed Senate Bill 6002, sponsored by Sen. Yasmin Trudeau (D-Tacoma), 40-9. At that stage the bill required plate-reader data to be deleted within 21 days unless needed as evidence (a Senate committee had lengthened this from 72 hours), largely barred sharing, banned use for civil immigration enforcement and kept the data out of public records requests, apart from use in research. (Washington State Standard / KUOW, Feb. 5, 2026)
  3. March 2026 The state House passed SB 6002 84-10 in early March 2026. The House version added gross misdemeanors to the permitted investigative uses, and the bill returned to the Senate for concurrence. (Washington State Standard, March 6, 2026)
  4. March 30, 2026 Gov. Bob Ferguson signed SB 6002 on March 30, 2026, and it took effect at once. Police may now run plate searches only for felony or gross-misdemeanor cases, stolen cars, cars linked to people with arrest warrants, and missing or endangered people (with exceptions). Reads must be purged after 21 days unless kept as evidence, and they can be shared only for court cases. The law forbids using the readers for immigration enforcement or to monitor protected activity such as speech. It forbids collecting data near protected health care or immigration sites, schools, courts, food banks and houses of worship. Agencies must log who accessed the data and keep those logs for two years, and the data is closed to public records requests except for research. (Washington State Standard / KUOW, March 31, 2026)
  5. March 30, 2026 SB 6002 directs the Attorney General's Office to develop model plate-reader policies by July 1, 2027. Agencies must adopt them by December 2027. (Washington State Standard / KUOW, March 31, 2026; Washington State Standard, March 6, 2026)
  6. March 30, 2026 Flock Safety said it was already complying with parts of the law, such as purging data after 21 days. (Washington State Standard / KUOW, March 31, 2026)