Group aims to ‘DeFlock’ Everett with citizen-led initiatives

Published 2:35 pm Tuesday, September 15, 2026

EVERETT — A group of local residents is aiming to remove controversial automated license plate reader cameras from Everett and regulate autonomous drone usage.

The group — DeFlock Everett — is currently gathering signatures from Everett voters in hopes of getting two initiatives on a future ballot.

DeFlock Everett began collecting signatures in July and didn’t meet the threshold to get the initiatives on the November ballot. Now, the group is aiming for a higher threshold, about 3,250 signatures, to force the council to vote on the proposals ahead of the February special election date. The council could either vote to approve the ordinances or send them to the ballot.

The first initiative would prohibit the city from using Flock Safety cameras or any other “similar ALPR surveillance system.” Flock cameras are a type of automated license plate reader that uses artificial intelligence to analyze vehicle footage, allowing police officers to search for a vehicle by license plate or vehicle characteristics — such as a car’s make, model or color. Many law enforcement agencies across the country have implemented the technology as an investigative tool to assist with solving crimes, including vehicle theft.

Over the past two years, the technology has become increasingly controversial. Since December 2025, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace and Edmonds have canceled their contracts with Flock Safety following reports of federal immigration enforcement accessing local networks. In February, Everett paused its network after a Snohomish County judge ruled that the footage would be subject to public records requests. The city reactivated its network in April following a new state law that explicitly exempts the footage from the Public Records Act.

“The freedom to move through one’s community without government surveillance is a fundamental civil liberty,” the initiative reads. “Mass tracking of vehicle movements without individualized suspicion is incompatible with that freedom.”

The initiative would also require the city to permanently delete all previously collected data and redirect any funding to community safety programs. For the past two years, Everett’s Flock camera system has been fully grant-funded. In the future, the city may have to pay about $225,000 per year.

City officials declined to comment Tuesday.

Examples of community safety programs outlined in the initiative include youth programs, mental health co-responder teams, addiction treatment services, neighborhood policing, small business security grants, public space improvement in high-crime areas, and sworn officer recruitment and retention.

The initiative would not apply to private businesses that use Flock cameras, such as Lowe’s and Home Depot. It also would not apply to mobile license plate readers.

DeFlock Everett’s second initiative would limit the city’s use of Flock Safety drones. In October 2025, the city launched its Drone as First Responder program, which allows the police department to deploy autonomous drones to a scene before officers arrive, sometimes clearing a call without a patrol resource.

“Drones operated by law enforcement are capable of continuous aerial surveillance across wide geographic areas, capturing high-resolution video, thermal imaging and precise location data,” the initiative reads. “These capabilities exceed traditional ground-based surveillance and, without meaningful restrictions, can be used to monitor residents’ movements, associations, and activities without individualized suspicion or judicial authorization.”

Under the proposed initiative, the city would only be able to use drones for emergencies, search and rescue, accident documentation, and warrant-authorized investigations. It would explicitly prohibit the use of drones for immigration enforcement and for surveilling protests and other protected activities.

The drone initiative would also establish a seven-member board to review deployments, investigate complaints and audit compliance with the law.

Jake Marquez, one of the group’s organizers, has lived in Everett for about two years and previously lived in Lynnwood and Shoreline. He works with artificial intelligence and cameras and recently started noticing the Flock cameras in Everett.

“I did some research into it and tried to inform myself, and after I finished that I decided I’m not really in support of these being around here, and everyone I seem to talk to seems to agree,” Marquez said. “It’s a great bipartisan issue I think everyone can come together on and hopefully remove from our community.”

A main group behind DeFlock Everett is One Voice Snohomish County, a collective of local organizations including NAACP Snohomish County, Snohomish County Indivisible, UNIDOS Snohomish County and the League of Women Voters of Snohomish County.

In February, Janice Greene, representing One Voice, urged the council to consider canceling the contract with Flock.

“Most residents would never knowingly consent to having their comings and goings cataloged and potentially made publicly available or shared with federal authorities simply because they drove through a city,” she said.

Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.