West Hollywood is keeping its Flock Safety cameras. And the same three birds flew together to make it happen.
Mayor John Heilman, Vice Mayor Danny Hang, and Councilmember Lauren Meister voted 3-2 Monday night to stay with Flock Safety and direct staff to return with contract amendments. Councilmember John Erickson and Councilmember Chelsea Byers voted no — same as they did on February 19 when the majority pushed the camera rollout forward over their objections.
The flock held. Twice.
Byers was the only council member calling for an outright end to the Flock relationship.
“I cannot support ongoing relationships with Flock at this time,” Byers said.
Erickson and Byers brought the original item on February 2. The debate produced one significant disclosure. Flock Director of Public Affairs Trevor Chandler acknowledged the company ran a 3-to-4-month pilot program in 2024 with Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations — two federal agencies under the Department of Homeland Security. Chandler said the pilot was focused on human trafficking and narco trafficking investigations.
“We could have been better in communicating that pilot project,” Chandler said. “And that’s where we take a lot of responsibility for this confusion and mistrust.”
He said that pilot, combined with Flock’s national lookup feature, led to situations where cities found federal agencies in their data without realizing they had agreed to share with them. Flock has since ended pilot programs with federal agencies and shut off all out-of-state and federal access for California agencies.
“There is no longer any ability by a California agency to initiate a sharing relationship outside of the state of California,” Chandler said.
Captain Fanny Lapkin of the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station confirmed again Monday that West Hollywood data is not currently being shared with any outside agency. About a month ago, she said, the station locked down its sharing settings and removed Beverly Hills, LAPD, and Culver City from access entirely.
“We kicked everybody out,” Lapkin said. “We wanted to make sure that when we move forward, if we move forward, that we have MOUs set in place.”
Public Safety Director Danny Rivas told the council the camera count in the staff report was already outdated. The City had six fixed video cameras installed when the report was submitted. As of Monday night, that number is 14. Two more are being installed by end of this week. Seven more are planned by end of next week, which would bring the total to 24 of the 54 approved.
The Bifurcation Question
The biggest takeaway Monday aside from keeping the program was new ground covered on whether West Hollywood could fully “silo” its data — meaning, keep it entirely separate from the broader LASD network and share with no one unless the City specifically authorizes it.
Flock said it was possible.
Hang said that’s what he was interested in doing. No sharing at all.
Heilman wasn’t feeling it. You can’t ask other cities to share their data with you when you’re chasing a suspect, then refuse to share yours.
“If somebody has committed a drive-by shooting in Beverly Hills and they have a license plate, I think we’d want you to share any data about that vehicle coming through West Hollywood,” Heilman said. “That’s the kind of crime where we would want the data shared.”
Lapkin backed him up with a real case. A Petco robbery. Suspect fled. Plate data shared with Beverly Hills. Three people involved. Beverly Hills caught two. West Hollywood found the third.
The landing spot seemed to be silo the data by default, share one-to-one when there’s a documented reason.
The Liability Question Left Unanswered
Erickson pressed City Attorney Lauren Langer on who would bear financial liability if the class action lawsuit filed in San Francisco against Flock — alleging illegal data sharing and deceptive system designs — resulted in a judgment. Langer said she couldn’t assess the risk on the record without specific facts.
The council agreed to take the question up in closed session.
“I can provide a more detailed explanation of the liability risk,” Langer said.
Where Things Landed
Staff comes back with contract amendments. No date set.
Meister said the whole exercise was worth it.
“I think we are definitely much more aware of our contract and how we can strengthen it,” Meister said.
Erickson and Byers got the conversation. They didn’t get the outcome.
The flock is staying put.
Related Coverage:
• West Hollywood Flock Safety Cameras: 14 Agencies Got In. City Had No Idea.
• West Hollywood Reviews Flock Deal After Feds Accessed Camera Data
• West Hollywood Council Divided Over Flock Cameras as Rollout Resumes
• A Federal Judge Said It Best: “Flock Flocked Up.” Now West Hollywood Has to Decide.
What is everyone doing that is so private it usurps safety? I know some councilmembers have no recollection of Trev Brody, but how we wish cameras were available then. #TheWokeIsBroke
A rare moment where common sense prevailed. Public safety won out over performative politics.
and fear mongering.
The privacy concerns are valid and I appreciate that they were highlighted.
At the same time, Lauren Meister’s comment about ‘throwing out the baby with the bathwater’ seemed spot on.
Flock and LASD appear to take the concerns seriously, so hopefully privacy and safety can coexist.
Agreed!