The Aspen Police Department will end its contract with Georgia-based Flock Safety after fielding concerns from the community about the controversial license plate readers.
The surveillance company’s cameras have stirred public controversy and debate in Glenwood Springs and around the country due to privacy concerns and data-sharing with other law enforcement agencies, like the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They also raised concerns in Aspen after Police Chief Kim Ferber discussed the department’s plans for Flock cameras at a May Aspen City Council meeting.
All data that would have been collected by the automated license plate readers in Aspen would have been locally owned and searchable only by APD staff, she said at the time. The data would have only been retained for 30 days unless the police department learned that a picture was related to a crime that occurred in Aspen.
But despite the efforts to ease community concerns about Aspen’s Flock cameras, Ferber said the police department decided to scrap the contract altogether.
“As police chief, my highest priority is maintaining the trust between the Aspen Police Department and the community we serve,” Ferber told the Aspen Daily News on Friday. “After hearing concerns from community members about the local use of this technology, I believe it is important to proceed thoughtfully and in a way that reflects our commitment to transparency, accountability and public trust.”
The APD signed a two-year, $20,000 contract with Flock in April 2025 to be paid over two years. The department has not paid the second installment of $10,000 for 2026, Ferber said.
When Ferber first became police chief in 2023, she said some members of the community expressed support for the implementation of license plate reader technology. The police department decided to move forward with two Flock cameras after seeing success other law enforcement agencies had with the technology.
“If you look at some of the success stories on some really serious crimes across the state of Colorado, I think the license plate reader technology speaks for itself in terms of its ability to assist law enforcement,” Ferber said.
The city mounted two license plate readers on the lighted messaging boards that greet drivers entering town, but neither camera was activated.
“Aspen is not simply a resort town or a tourist destination. It’s a real community made up of workers, families, immigrants, teachers, restaurant staff, tradespeople, small business owners and locals who keep this town functioning every single day,” Andrew Sandler told the city council. “Communities like Aspen depend on trust, and when people begin to feel constantly monitored, something changes psychologically. People become less open, less engaged, less trust in local government — that does not strengthen a town, it weakens the social fabric that holds you together.”
According to an informational memo sent to the city council this week, the police department will continue to monitor legislation and law enforcement best practices “while also hearing from community members, to determine whether a future proposal for the use of license plate readers has local support.”
Ferber said APD also could look at working with other companies with similar technology, such as Axon, with which the department contracts for its officer body cameras.
The decision to sever the contract with Flock was made after “some really productive conversations with community members who both support the license plate reader technology and also community members who do not support the use of it or are apprehensive about it,” Ferber said. There may be instances in which having the technology would have proven beneficial, she added.
“We have an excellent team here, they do great investigative work and so we will do everything we can to find other means to help us solve some of our crimes,” Ferber said. “But I think I would be pretty open with the community if there’s an instance where this technology would have been beneficial to help us solve something.”
The police department will continue to leverage some of the technology when other communities use it, Ferber said. For example, if a crime is committed in Aspen and a vehicle drives along I-70, officers will reach out to other law enforcement agencies to see if they can help identify a possible vehicle using the license plate reader technology.