Resident requests review of Tiburon’s plate-camera use after data concerns

A Tiburon resident is formally requesting the Town Council review the town’s use of Flock Safety license-plate cameras after an Ark investigation found 41 California agencies conducted more than 16,000 potentially illegal searches of the town’s logs from July through December.

So far, officials are declining to put it on the agenda for a public hearing.

Colin Crawford, a resident of Tiburon’s Del Mar neighborhood, submitted a letter to councilmembers April 13, urging them “to review the town’s current policies governing the use of Flock Safety cameras within the Tiburon 94920 community.” The request came too late for the council’s April 15 meeting, as state law requires agendas for regular meetings be posted 72 hours in advance.

Mayor Jon Welner did not respond to an email by press time on whether he would add a Flock-camera discussion to a future agenda, but Town Manager Greg Chanis said last week there are no plans to discuss it at the next meeting, May 6, though Crawford’s letter and an additional research memo will be attached as public comment.

“It’s a worthy and interesting debate,” said Crawford, who also serves on the Belvedere-Tiburon Emergency Preparedness Council and has been an occasional technology consultant to The Ark. “And I don’t think there’s any easy answer because I don’t think these surveillance systems are going away any time soon.”

Read the complete story in our e-edition, or SUBSCRIBE NOW for home delivery and access to the digital replica.

Comment on this article on Nextdoor.