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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026_08_03 OSawyer_Flock Cameras_ResponseFrom:Denise Banker To:Allison Berry Cc:Glenn Gilbert; Apple Martine; Jenn Mitchell Subject:RE: The Use of Flock Cameras at QFC Port Townsend Date:Thursday, August 6, 2026 9:19:50 AM Attachments:image005.png image006.png image007.png image008.png image009.png image010.png Hi, All: Jenn Mitchell is checking in with QFC about this concern. We should be able to answer the questions pose by Allison by BOH meeting next week. denise Denise Banker, MEd., PhD. Community Health Division Director She/Her pronouns Jefferson County Public Health 615 Sheridan St. Port Townsend, WA 98368 Office: 360.385.9438 dbanker@co.jefferson.wa.us Always working for a Safer and Healthier Jefferson County CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. PUBLIC RECORDS ACT NOTICE: All e-mail sent to this address has been received by the Jefferson County e-mail system and is therefore subject to the Public Records Act, a state law found at RCW 42.56. Under the Public Records law the County must release this e-mail and its contents to any person who asks to obtain a copy (or for inspection) of this e-mail unless it is exempt from disclosure under state law, including RCW 42.56. From: Allison Berry <ABerry@co.jefferson.wa.us> Sent: Wednesday, August 5, 2026 8:04 PM To: Apple Martine <AMartine@co.jefferson.wa.us>; Glenn Gilbert <GGilbert@co.jefferson.wa.us>; BOH_Public <BoardofHealth@co.jefferson.wa.us> Subject: RE: The Use of Flock Cameras at QFC Port Townsend Hi Glenn, Thank you for forwarding this on. I know that staff and visitors have raised some concerns about this camera. While not technically required, I wonder if it might make sense to do some outreach to QFC management to gauge how much of the parking lot this camera covers and if would for example capture the license plates of individuals entering and leaving our facility? I don’t have a good contact there but it might be wise to understand the scope of the potential problem. Best, Allison Berry, MD MPH (she/they) Health Officer for Clallam and Jefferson Counties aberry@co.jefferson.wa.us From: Apple Martine <AMartine@co.jefferson.wa.us> Sent: Wednesday, August 5, 2026 6:05 PM To: Glenn Gilbert <GGilbert@co.jefferson.wa.us>; BOH_Public <BoardofHealth@co.jefferson.wa.us> Subject: Re: The Use of Flock Cameras at QFC Port Townsend Dear Glenn and BOH, I don't believe the County has anything to do with the Flock Camera(s) in the QFC parking lot. As residents of the Castle Hill complex, we were not notified about their arrival nor was there any outreach about their use by those who put them there. The property is owned by QFC, and this area is in the PTPD's jurisdiction, so I think this analysis and commentary by Well Organized/Nourishing Beloved Community is better suited for and directed at the City of PT. Public Health has security cameras outside along the front side of our building and there are placards on the building indicating as such to the public. Sincerely, Apple Appalachia Martine BSN, RN Gender Pronouns: She/Her/Hers Director Jefferson County Public Health 615 Sheridan Street Port Townsend, WA 98368 Telephone: 360-385-9400 x443 AMartine@co.jefferson.wa.us | jeffersoncountypublichealth.org Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Jefferson County Confidentiality Statement: This email message including any attachments, is for the sole purpose of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential & privileged information. Any unauthorized, use, review, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by e-mail & destroy all copies of the original message. All e-mail sent by this e-mail address has been sent by the Jefferson County e-mail system and is therefore subject to Public Records Act, a State law found at RCW 42:56. Under the Public Records Law, the County must release this e-mail & it's contents to any person who asks to obtain a copy (or for inspection) of this e-mail unless it is also exempt from disclosure under State Law RCW 42.56 From: Glenn Gilbert <GGilbert@co.jefferson.wa.us> Sent: Monday, August 3, 2026 10:33 AM To: BOH_Public <BoardofHealth@co.jefferson.wa.us> Subject: FW: The Use of Flock Cameras at QFC Port Townsend Forwarded, in the event you didn’t receive it. This doesn’t look like something that requires a response from JCPH or the Board of Health. But wiser heads than mine may think differently. Glenn Gilbert Public Health Assistant Jefferson County Public Health 360-385-9421 ggilbert@co.jefferson.wa.us | www.jeffersoncountypublichealth.org/ From: Oceana Sawyer <info@nourishingbelovedcommunity.com> Sent: Monday, August 3, 2026 10:22 AM To: awatkins@cityofpt.us Cc: Well Organized <info@well-organized.org>; Liliana Paredes <lilianap@jcira.org>; jmauro@cityofpt.us; ahoward@cityofpt.us; citycouncil@cityofpt.us; mdressler@jeffersonhealthcare.org; Kees Kolff <kkolff@jeffersonhealthcare.org>; bmccomas@jeffersonhealthcare.org; mready@jeffersonhealthcare.org; prhoden@jeffersonhealthcare.org; Board of Health <boh@co.jefferson.wa.us>; jeffbocc <jeffbocc@co.jefferson.wa.us>; erin.rolfes@kroger.com; stephanie.winans@stores.qfci.com Subject: The Use of Flock Cameras at QFC Port Townsend ALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them. Well Organized/ Nourishing Beloved Community POB 1659 Port Townsend, WA 98368 August 3, 2026 Austin Watkins City Attorney City of Port Townsend 250 Madison Street Port Townsend, WA 98368 awatkins@cityofpt.us RE: Automated license plate reader surveillance at 515 Sheridan Street — request for legal review and City action Dear Mr. Watkins: On behalf of Nourishing Beloved Community (NBC), Well Organized of Jefferson County (WO) and Jefferson County Immigrant Rights Advocates ("JCIRA") regarding automated license plate reader ("ALPR") cameras manufactured by Flock Safety that have been installed at the QFC store at 515 Sheridan Street. We understand these cameras surveil a parking area shared with, and adjacent to, facilities of Jefferson County Public Health and Jefferson Healthcare — a public hospital district serving the whole of East Jefferson County – and now JCIRA as well. We respectfully ask the City and Jefferson County to review their respective policies and legal obligations regarding private automated license plate reader systems adjacent to JCIRA, Jefferson Public Hospital District and Public Health facilities; determine whether any City or County access to this data exists; evaluate whether the installation complies with applicable state and local law; and work collaboratively with community partners to develop local safeguards that protect patient and client privacy and access to essential services. Our objective is not simply to identify legal concerns, but to encourage a constructive dialogue about how emerging surveillance technologies intersect with privacy, healthcare access, and community trust. We believe these interests can coexist, and we welcome the opportunity to work collaboratively with the City, Jefferson County, Jefferson Healthcare, and other community partners to identify practical solutions that protect both public safety and the rights of those accessing essential services. 1. Who we are, and why this camera reaches our work. JCIRA assists community members in East Jefferson County with the completion of immigration documents, and collaborates with NBC to operate a weekly food bank. Both activities are conducted without charge. We flag this at the outset because the Legislature has singled out both of these activities for protection from ALPR surveillance, as set out in Part 3 below. The people who come to JCIRA for help completing an application, and the people who come to us for groceries, are in substantial part the same people who receive medical care at 515 and 834 Sheridan Street. A camera logging arrivals at that block is logging the movements of a population the Legislature has expressly determined should not be tracked. 2. The camera captures a record of who seeks medical care in this county. An ALPR is not a security camera. It photographs every plate that passes, builds a timestamped location record for every driver — the overwhelming majority of whom are suspected of nothing — and uploads that record to a commercial network. Because of where this camera sits, the record it builds is not merely "who shopped for groceries." It is a log of vehicles arriving at the site of the only hospital in East Jefferson County. Jefferson Healthcare's patients include people seeking reproductive health care, gender-affirming care, behavioral health treatment, and substance use disorder services. Many arrive with no realistic alternative; there is no second hospital to drive to. A patient who wishes to keep a medical visit private now has no way to do so. These circumstances warrant more than the City's review alone. We ask Jefferson County and the Public Hospital District to review their own policies, procedures, and any agreements relating to private surveillance systems located adjacent to public facilities. As stewards of essential public services, they have an important role in protecting patient privacy, maintaining public trust, and ensuring individuals can access healthcare, public health services, and other essential community resources without unnecessary concern about surveillance. 3. The Legislature has drawn a line, and this camera sits on the wrong side of it. Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6002, the Driver Privacy Act, took effect March 30, 2026 and is codified as a new chapter in Title 10 RCW. Section 3(4) provides that it is unlawful for any agency to collect ALPR data on the premises, immediate surroundings, or access to or from facilities that provide protected health care under chapter 7.115 RCW, or at facilities conducting an immigration matter as defined in RCW 19.154.020, schools, places of worship, courts, or food banks. RCW 19.154.020(2) defines an "immigration matter" broadly, to include any proceeding, filing, or action affecting a person's immigration or citizenship status arising under federal immigration law or the actions of USCIS, DHS, DOJ, the Department of State, the Department of Labor, or the Board of Immigration Appeals. JCIRA's document-completion assistance falls within that definition. Our weekly food bank is separately and independently enumerated in Section 3(4). **We state plainly what Section 3(4) does not do.** It binds "any agency," which Section 2 defines as state and local agencies. It does not, standing alone, prohibit Kroger or QFC from operating a camera. We are not asking the City to assert otherwise, and we think a claim that overreads the statute would be counterproductive for everyone. What Section 3(4) does do is establish, as a matter of enacted Washington policy, that ALPR collection around hospitals, immigration-services providers, schools, places of worship, courts, and food banks is intolerable. The Legislature made that judgment and left private operators to be addressed elsewhere. That is an argument *for* the local ordinance we request below, not against it. It is also the reason a private camera producing exactly the dataset the Legislature prohibited agencies from gathering is a matter of legitimate municipal concern. 4. The Act's operative constraints on the City are immediate. Two provisions bind Port Townsend directly and now: - **Section 5(4):** an agency may obtain privately held ALPR data only pursuant to a valid, court-issued, probable cause warrant. Any standing access, hot-list arrangement, courtesy login, or informal request channel between the Port Townsend Police Department and a privately operated Flock camera is inconsistent with this requirement. - **Section 3(3):** it is unlawful for an agency to use an ALPR system for immigration investigation or enforcement, consistent with RCW 10.93.160, or in connection with protected health care services under chapter 7.115 RCW, or to track activity protected by the First Amendment and Article I, Section 7. Other Washington jurisdictions moved promptly. Bellingham Police terminated access agreements with Lowe's and Home Depot the day after the bill was signed. Edmonds, Lynnwood, and Mountlake Terrace have ended or suspended Flock programs. We ask the City to state on the record whether PTPD holds any access of any kind to this camera or to any network containing it, and if so, to end it. A warrantless door into private ALPR data is not made lawful by the fact that a private party opened it. 5. My Health My Data may reach the private operator directly. RCW 19.373 defines "consumer health data" to include precise location information that could reasonably indicate a consumer's attempt to acquire or receive health services. The Act separately makes it unlawful for any person to implement a geofence around an entity providing in-person health care services where the geofence is used to identify or track consumers seeking health care, to collect consumer health data, or to send related messages. The statutory radius is 2,000 feet. A persistent ALPR trained on the approach to a hospital campus is, functionally, a virtual perimeter that identifies and tracks people arriving for care. We ask your office to evaluate whether the installation falls within that prohibition. Unlike the Driver Privacy Act, whose Consumer Protection Act provision at Section 10(2) reaches only persons who contract with agencies authorized to use ALPR systems, the My Health My Data Act's Consumer Protection Act hook applies to regulated entities generally, including private retailers. 6. Federal immigration access to Flock data is documented, not hypothetical. The University of Washington Center for Human Rights found through public records that at least eight Washington law enforcement agencies enabled direct data sharing with U.S. Border Patrol during 2025, and that Border Patrol appeared to access the networks of at least ten additional Washington departments that never authorized such searches. Out-of-state agencies conducted numerous searches of Washington-collected Flock data. This occurred despite the Keep Washington Working Act, RCW 10.93.160. Flock's assurances about software filters are assurances about a vendor's own product configuration, made by a company with a commercial interest in the answer, and subject to change. The demonstrated pattern is that access routes existed which participating agencies did not know about and did not approve. Given the documented history of unintended data sharing, local governments should not rely solely on vendor assurances where the consequences of error could include unlawful immigration enforcement or a family separated. 7. The chilling effect is already the harm. We do not have to wait for a search to be run. Our organization is hearing from residents who are weighing whether to drive to a medical appointment, pick up a prescription, come to our food bank, or ask for help with a filing. When a person skips a clinic visit or a food distribution because of a camera, the injury is complete regardless of whether any data is ever queried. Requested action We respectfully ask the City to: 1. Determine and publicly disclose whether PTPD has, or has ever had, any access to Flock data generated at 515 Sheridan Street or to any network containing it, and terminate any such access. 2. Issue written guidance to PTPD confirming that privately held ALPR data will be sought only pursuant to a probable cause warrant, per Section 5(4), and that ALPR use for immigration enforcement or in connection with protected health care is prohibited per Section 3(3). 3. Confirm whether PTPD operates any ALPR system requiring registration with the Attorney General under Section 5(a), and whether that registration has been completed. 4. Review the installation for compliance with the City's land use, permitting, sign, and design review requirements, and confirm whether any permit was issued. 5. Evaluate the installation under RCW 19.373's geofencing prohibition and communicate the City's conclusions to Kroger/QFC and to Jefferson Healthcare. 6. Bring to Council an ordinance regulating privately operated ALPR within city limits that extends the Section 3(4) protections to private operators — barring collection on the premises, immediate surroundings, or access routes of health care facilities, immigration-services providers, schools, places of worship, courts, and food banks — together with notice, retention limits, and a prohibition on sharing with federal immigration authorities. 7. Coordinate with Jefferson County, Jefferson Public Hospital District, and other affected public entities to review the impact of private ALPR systems located adjacent to healthcare and public facilities, evaluate existing privacy protections, and identify appropriate safeguards that protect patients, clients, and community members accessing essential services We respectfully request a written response outlining the City's conclusions and any actions it intends to take regarding the concerns raised in this letter. Should your office determine that a meeting would be helpful, we would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss these issues further. We are also prepared to address the City Council during public comment. If necessary, we will submit public records requests regarding communications between the City, Flock Safety, and Kroger concerning this installation, although we hope that information can be shared collaboratively. Again, although this letter is addressed to the City Attorney, we have copied Jefferson County, Jefferson Public Hospital District No. 2, and other affected public entities because the issues presented extend beyond municipal policing. We encourage these agencies to undertake similar reviews of their own legal obligations, policies, and operational relationships relating to privately operated ALPR systems adjacent to public facilities. Thank you for your attention. Sincerely, Nourishing Beloved Community Well Organized of Jefferson County cc: Liliana Paredes, Executive Director, Jefferson County Immigrant Rights Advocates John Mauro, City Manager Port Townsend City Council Board of Commissioners, Jefferson County Public Hospital District No. 2 Jefferson County Public Health Store Leader, QFC #00106 Kroger Co., Office of Corporate Affairs County Commissioners -- Oceana Sawyer Program Director Nourishing Beloved Community Well Organized/BLMJC Building resilient community for and by People of the Global Majority