Syracuse lawmakers Monday approved changing the company that operates the city’s license plate readers over privacy concerns. The new company, Axon Enterprise, is the same one that supplies body cameras to city police officers.
But there was drama in the Common Council chambers both before and during the vote. Some of the approximately two dozen activists in the crowd started disrupting the vote, saying there has been no public comment period before lawmakers vote. Before the vote, councilors said they had spent months on the issue and had done their due diligence.
The council then voted first to allow Axon to put up the license plate readers. But before they could make a second vote, which would approve the contract with Axon, the disruptions from protesters, many holding anti-ICE signs, continued. Council President Rita Paniagua then adjourned the meeting and called police, who removed a pair of very vocal protesters.
Once things calmed down, lawmakers voted 5-1 to approve the contract with Axon that will replace the deal the city had with Flock Safety, a company that is known to share information with federal immigration officials. Lawmakers said they were more comfortable working with Axon.
Councilor Hannah Ehrenreich was the lone dissenting vote.
"While I completely agree with the logic of getting rid of the Flock systems, and I understand where we are on picking Axon systems, I myself am undecided and I've heard from constituents who are concerned with surveillance privacy rights," Ehrenreich said. "So I didn't feel like I could vote for it, but I am definitely not for Flock or the maintenance of the current system."
Councilor Jimmy Monto said switching companies strikes a balance. It ensures the city is in control of any of the information collected by the cameras, not Homeland Security.
"I do not want anybody's rights violated in any way, shape, or form, but we also have to got to make sure we're keeping the public safe," Monto said. "And this is modern day, we're living in a world where this technology is with us. It's not going anywhere, but it's here. We just gotta, you know, try to make sure we're doing the best we can to keep the data in the right hands."
