Syracuse Common Council votes to install Axon readers despite pushback
Despite pushback from protesters at Monday’s Common Council meeting, Axon is the city of Syracuse’s new license plate reader provider. The agreement replaces Flock, the city’s previous LPR contractor. Steven Wright | Contributing Photographer
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Despite ire from a small group of protesters at Monday’s Common Council meeting, Axon Enterprise will become the city of Syracuse’s new automatic license plate reader provider after a resolution passed 5-1.
The resolution will allow Axon to own and operate a citywide deployment of solar-powered plate readers, according to the meeting’s agenda.
Axon will replace Flock Safety, the city’s current ALPR contractor. Under the agreement, 26 new plate readers will be placed on Axon-installed or city-owned poles throughout the city, in coordination with the Syracuse Police Department.
“We have been very cautious and very careful, and we will continue to be very careful, with technology in the city — especially surveillance technology,” said Jimmy Monto, the district 5 councilor, before thanking attendees who raised concerns throughout the meeting.
Tensions arose as around 20 protesters interrupted the meeting, causing the council to briefly adjourn and remove, but not arrest, two people, syracuse.com reported. Several local activists and political groups organized the protest, which urged councilors to “melt” the contracts with companies that collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“We need to finish our process. If you would like to address the councilors after the meeting is over, then you can stay and try and do that,” Rita Paniagua, president of the Common Council, repeatedly said to attendees. As they were removed, the protesters chanted “shame” and “freedom of speech.”
In a Monday statement, Paniagua said the council is committed to hearing from constituents, but had to follow regular procedures without constituents to remain “efficient.”
Sophia Burke | Digital Design Editor
Flock maintains that its mass surveillance technology does not infringe on Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights and data is limited to clients. However, investigative reporting found the company’s database had informally allowed the federal government and ICE access to audits, including in Syracuse.
Axon, the Arizona-based company behind SPD’s body-worn cameras and SWAT drones, sparked controversy over its “Drone as First Responder” program, which awaits council approval. The company contracts with the federal government, including with the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“This council has been through months of discussion, going over the contract that we’ll be entering into with Axon,” said Monto, who opposed Flock last year. “We are very comfortable with the idea that it is highly and easily revocable, should they step out of bounds in any way.”
The contract is effective March 1. The council held a resolution to revoke Flock’s contract with the city to prevent a lapse in service, Monto said. In the agreement, the first 12 months with Axon are free of charge, and then payments will not exceed $422,636.
Other business
A resolution to opt into the Good Cause Eviction law — a state law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2024 that would make it illegal for landlords to evict tenants without “good cause” — was tabled again after first being deferred in February 2025.
The council approved an amendment to the city’s ongoing contract with e-bike maker VeoRide Inc., allowing Veo to run the Syracuse “SYNC” Program on behalf of the Department of Public Works for a year, with two one-year renewal options.
The council also approved an agreement with Mosaic Consulting Group for a payroll
modernization project. The deal, set to expire in March 2o27, allocates up to $900,000.
“The payroll modernization project has been on our agenda since late last year,” Corey Williams, the District 3 councilor, said. “It’s clearly been something that our city’s had a challenge with.”
A previous city payroll modernization attempt unraveled when a whistleblower alleged she was paid over $90,000 in consulting fees without doing work on the project. The controversy spilled into last year’s mayoral race, particularly from former budget director Tim Rudd, who cited the incident as one of his many platforms against now-Mayor Sharon Owens.
