Alexandria, Virginia, Mayor Alyia Gaskins Tuesday acknowledged what many of her constituents have been saying for months: “Flock as a vendor needed to be out.”

And that’s exactly what Alexandria Police Department Chief Tarrick McGuire announced would be happening.

“I anticipate by this Friday that the ALPR camera should be deactivated,” McGuire said. “The goal is to have them all removed by December.”

City Manager Jim Parajon said the move follows direction from the City Council at an earlier meeting to end Alexandria’s contract with Flock and stop using the company’s 61 surveillance cameras.

Flock cameras photograph passing vehicles, recording their license plates and where and when they were spotted. Police can search that information to help track vehicles during investigations. But the technology has raised concerns about privacy and who has access to that information.

Gaskins said city officials held a series of public forums where they heard from people concerned about the cameras and how surveillance technology is used.

Those conversations also raised a bigger question: How should the city decide what surveillance technology to use in the future?

“How are we talking about issues that involve surveillance, transparency, trust and do we have a clear way and a clear framework for evaluating that?” Gaskins asked.

The question of whether Alexandria’s red-light and speed cameras would be affected also came up during Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

“We were not including that unless directed otherwise,” City Manager Jim Parajon said.

The topic will be brought up again at next month’s City Council meeting. But Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley wanted to make one thing clear.

Bagley said that ending Flock now doesn’t mean the company should “come back on Nov. 10 to propose a new vendor contract.”

Instead, the council will debate guidelines that it can “use as a rubric to evaluate any particular product or vendor moving forward,” she said.

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