Junction City council postpones decision on license-plate readers until spring

A Junction City committee that meets in the spring will consider a police request for mounted license-plate reader cameras, with technology company Axon as a potential supplier of the technology.

Last month, the city’s five city councilors heard a proposal to begin a 90-day, no-cost trial for eight, pole-mounted Flock Safety license-plate readers.

But the council voted unanimously Tuesday, Aug. 11, to delay the decision on any camera installations.

“I really think that to prevent the cart being in front of the horse, we probably need to refer to the budget committee and make sure that our community agrees it should be funded,” City Councilor Ken Hancock said.

The Junction City budget committee consists of seven citizen members in addition to the city’s elected mayor and city councilors, according to the city’s website. The council has six seats, but Councilor Ken Jamieson died in April.

Last month, documents presented to councilors listed an expected annual cost of about $3,000 per Flock camera once the no-cost trial ended, though the cameras would have not likely been installed until December or later.

Councilors voiced concerns that costs for the Flock cameras had not been included in the city’s budget for the current fiscal year, which began July 1 and runs through June 2027.

A majority of citizens who spoke during the July 14 meeting and also on Tuesday expressed opposition to the technology.

Police departments in Eugene and Springfield last year paused use of license-plate reader cameras after an outcry from residents concerned about privacy and data sharing. Both departments announced Dec. 5, 2025, they were ending contracts with Flock Safety, saying the Atlanta-based company turned on cameras during maintenance.

‘We aren’t Eugene’

Junction City Police Chief Mark Waddell has advocated for adding cameras.

“We aren’t Eugene. We aren’t Springfield. We’re not Portland. We’re not LA,” Waddell said in the July 14 council meeting. “We have to make decisions that work for Junction City.”

The city has an estimated population of 7,224 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, much smaller than Eugene or Springfield. Junction City police already drive patrol cars with automated license-plate reader cameras provided by Axon. 

Automated license-plate reader technology takes images to record the plates of vehicles. Officers receive near-instant alerts when a plate matches that of a vehicle sought by police.

The technology helps authorities locate stolen vehicles and missing persons, as well as finding suspects in other crimes, proponents of the cameras say.

Police can also search for vehicles by description, such as color or make and model, to find when a matching vehicle passed by a specific camera location.

Tuesday, Waddell spoke to the council about the recent search in Springfield for a vehicle suspected in an Aug. 6 fatal hit-and-run. Springfield Deputy Chief George Crolly, in an interview with TV station KVAL, said Flock cameras “would have been useful.”

Police arrested the suspect in that collision Friday, Aug. 7, but not until after a fatal stabbing. The suspect, Edgar Solorio Lopez, has been charged with second-degree murder and is also under investigation in the fatal hit-and-run, Springfield police have said.

“There’s a high likelihood that if Springfield had their Flock cameras, they might have prevented the stabbing,” Waddell said Tuesday, referring to remarks by Crolly.

City Council President Karen Leach, who in July voiced support for the technology, Tuesday spoke critically of Flock Safety. 

The company for many has become almost synonymous with the technology. It’s also been the target of criticism from U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, among others, with concerns about privacy and also data security.

“A lot of the concerns with Flock are warranted,” Leach said Tuesday.

Flock representatives spoke remotely to the council at the July 14 meeting, but not Tuesday. Leach said Tuesday she “thought they did a poor job of presenting themselves.”

John Hunt, a representative for Axon, attended the meeting remotely. 

Axon has more than $1.6 billion in annual revenue, according to its website, and is based in Scottsdale, Arizona. It’s relatively new, however, to selling the type of pole-mounted license-plate readers that are proposed to be placed at various street intersections in Junction City.

Asked Tuesday during the council meeting if the company would consider providing a no-cost trial to the city, Hunt said: “We are in the process of discussing a trial with Chief Waddell.”