A.S. Senate condemns Flock cameras in the greater UCSB area

The 77th Associated Students Senate passed a resolution condemning the use of Flock Safety cameras — automated license plate readers — in and around UC Santa Barbara, during its Sept. 23 meeting. 

The resolution calls on Santa Barbara County (SBC) to hold a public hearing on the continued use of Flock cameras in the county, restrict further cameras from being established by SBC law enforcement agencies without approval and prohibit the spread of data collected by the cameras to other law enforcement agencies without a warrant. 

The city of Santa Barbara recently discontinued its contract with Flock Safety at the end of August, resulting in the removal of 12 cameras; however, they are still discussing implementing similar, alternative license plate cameras. 

Legislation adopted

The resolution was introduced by second-year physics major, Senator Alec GeoSimonian and second-year political science major, Senator Addy Nguyen to address growing privacy concerns surrounding Flock cameras. 

“My goal with this resolution is to both call out what’s going on with these cameras and also call on the county, which ultimately has authority over the sheriff’s department, to pass clearer ordinances surrounding when these cameras can be used, where the data can be shared [and] the process for putting up a new camera,” GeoSimonian said. 

GeoSimonian highlighted a Flock camera installed outside of Santa Catalina Residence Hall and touched on the alleged presence of federal agents there, citing it as the most “pressing” reason these cameras need to be addressed. Nyguen also noted that the Flock cameras located at Camino Real Marketplace pose additional risks to the student body as many UCSB students frequent the shopping plaza.

Rather than following the previous Senate’s standing rules of sending the resolution to be reviewed by a committee, the 77th Senate chose to pass the resolution the same day it was discussed. 

Public Forum

Third-year computer science major and UCSB Taara Finance Chair, Pratima Nallapareddy, requested $1,992 to cover the Taara dance team’s practice space. She explained that the practice space is one of the group’s largest recurring expenses.

Because the Associated Students (A.S.) Finance Committee had not yet formally begun meeting for the academic year, senators discussed where the allocation should come from before ultimately deciding to use funds from Senate Unallocated.  

Senator and fourth-year economics & accounting major and A.S. Finance Committee Vice Chair Adam Mohareb highlighted that the committee has substantially less money available for allocations compared to the previous year. 

“This year we have a lot less money than last year,” Mohareb said. “So as a heads up, we might need to request some money from reserves just to keep up with some of the demand. Compared to last year, I think it’s almost half of what we had.”

The committee is also considering changes to the A.S. Legal Code that would require organizations seeking Senate funding to first bring their requests before the Finance Committee — giving the committee “the first right of refusal.” Mohareb said the change would benefit the Senate by allowing the Finance Committee to provide senators with additional context when previously denied requests are brought to them.

A version of this article appeared on p. 1 of the October 1 print edition of the Daily Nexus.