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License-plate readers · Thurston County

Thurston County

Use suspended · 1 agency documented

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Olympia Police Department

Status
Use suspended
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
15
15 Flock cameras at six intersections when the program was suspended in December 2025, per The Olympian (via GovTech) and KOMO; the Flock transparency portal (updated Sept. 23, 2025) also lists 15. A 2024 KNKX report said 16 were planned.
Contract
Flock Safety: $98,550 total · from March 2024 · to July 2026 · Two-year pilot signed in March 2024 and funded by a state Department of Commerce grant ($100,000 per city staff report); the Olympian reported the total cost and a term through July 2026. KNKX reported city officials said the chief did not need elected officials' approval to install the cameras. Amendment No. 1 to the master services agreement, executed May 2025, limited Flock's own access to and disclosure of city data. (The Olympian (syndicated by GovTech), Dec. 4, 2025; KNKX Public Radio, March 27, 2024; City of Olympia (Legistar), Feb. 28, 2024; City of Olympia (Legistar), Dec. 2, 2025)
  1. Feb. 28, 2024 Police Chief Rich Allen briefed the council's Community Livability and Public Safety Committee on a $100,000 state Department of Commerce grant to lease Flock license plate reader cameras for a two-year pilot focused on the west side near Capital Mall. (City of Olympia (Legistar), Feb. 28, 2024)
  2. March 19, 2024 The City Council got a briefing on the camera rollout plan; the staff report noted the committee's support. KNKX said the committee (Mayor Dontae Payne, Council Members Yen Huynh and Clark Gilman) backed the plan in a symbolic vote, and city officials said the chief did not need elected leaders' approval to install the cameras. (City of Olympia (Legistar), March 19, 2024; KNKX Public Radio, March 27, 2024)
  3. Aug. 2024 The camera system went live in August 2024 as a two-year pilot, according to the city as reported by KOMO. (KOMO News, Dec. 4, 2025)
  4. May 2025 City and Flock Group executed Amendment No. 1 to their master services agreement, restricting Flock from accessing or disclosing city footage without the city's written authorization or a legal requirement. (City of Olympia (Legistar), Dec. 2, 2025)
  5. Sept. 23, 2025 Flock transparency portal, last updated Sept. 23, 2025, listed 15 cameras, 30-day retention and 84 external organizations with access, mostly Washington police and sheriff's offices, tribal police and task forces. (Flock Safety, Sept. 23, 2025)
  6. Oct. 21, 2025 A University of Washington Center for Human Rights report found Olympia's 2025 Flock network audits contained no Border Patrol searches and its shared-network list showed no out-of-state or federal organizations. (University of Washington Center for Human Rights, Oct. 21, 2025)
  7. Dec. 2, 2025 At a City Council study session, Interim Police Chief Shelby Parker recommended that City Manager Jay Burney suspend the Flock program pending review; police asked Flock that night to deactivate the system. Parker described the move as a suspension rather than a permanent end. (City of Olympia (Legistar), Dec. 2, 2025; The Olympian (syndicated by GovTech), Dec. 4, 2025; KOMO News, Dec. 4, 2025)
  8. Dec. 3, 2025 City announced the suspension; staff covered all 15 cameras, and Flock confirmed they would be turned off within 24 hours. (The Olympian (syndicated by GovTech), Dec. 4, 2025; KOMO News, Dec. 4, 2025)
  9. Aug. 17, 2026 KIRO 7 listed Olympia among cities that do not currently use Flock technology. (KIRO 7, Aug. 17, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • The city's November 2025 staff report said the Flock contract expires in July 2026 and continued use would need new funding; no renewal was found. KIRO 7 in August 2026 listed Olympia as not currently using Flock, but removal of the hardware was not confirmed (The Olympian reported in December 2025 that Flock had set no removal timeline).
  • Data retention was 30 days, per the transparency portal and The Olympian.

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)