Chelsea Byers says Flock broke West Hollywood's trust
West Hollywood City Council member
“I don’t know how we recover from that sense of trust violated in this moment, And we keep hearing that it’s going to work and they’re putting safeguards in place, but ultimately, it’s up to us as a city to put some of these safeguards in place, and we’re doing our best to understand it. And I can’t give the sense of trust back to the public that we’ve done our due diligence in this moment here.”
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
Beverly Press report on the West Hollywood City Council's 3-2 vote on March 16, 2026, to continue its contract with Flock Safety.
Reporting
About this source
WEHOonline report on the West Hollywood City Council meeting of March 16, 2026, at which the council kept its Flock Safety cameras on a 3-2 vote.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
At its March 16, 2026, meeting the West Hollywood City Council weighed whether to keep its Flock Safety cameras after reports and a lawsuit alleging the company shared data with federal immigration agents. Beverly Press reported that Byers voiced particular concern about whether to trust Flock.
After the quotation
The council kept the contract on a 3-2 vote, with Byers and John Erickson dissenting, and directed staff to return with stricter limits on data sharing. WEHOonline's account of the meeting quotes Byers saying, "I cannot support ongoing relationships with Flock at this time."
How this statement is classified
Case context: Should Flock-style license-plate surveillance networks exist?
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is whether networked license-plate reader systems such as Flock should exist and be used. Byers said she did not know how the city could recover the trust that had been violated, voted against keeping West Hollywood's Flock contract, and in WEHOonline's account of the same meeting said she could not support ongoing relationships with Flock at this time. Support for ending a city's Flock contract is labeled Condemned.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Flock Safety
Should Flock-style license-plate surveillance networks exist?
Explore the case context, sources and public responses.
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