FOSTER – The Town Council on Thursday ended Foster’s relationship with Flock Safety for automated license plate-reading cameras, voting unanimously to cancel its contract with the company.
It’s the latest in a string of hits to a company at the center of the debate over privacy versus and the public good related to the cameras and how they’re used.
A representative from Flock presented numerous ways that safeguards and procedures protect privacy, but council members sided with impassioned residents who said they don’t want the cameras.
Chief Tyler Domingos said he brought a Flock spokesperson to clear up any questions and misconceptions, adding that the cameras are one of a number of tools in their bag for fighting crime, but said it was also up to the council what they were comfortable with.
State Rep. Mike Chippendale, who noted that he was coming to the council for the first time other than when he’s been invited, said this camera technology shouldn’t be allowed anywhere in town. At the very least, he said, the council should wait until he state has established appropriate regulations to oversee the cameras’ use.
Chippendale urged the council to defend the Constitutional and 4th Amendment limits that protect everyone. Among other things, he rejected the notion that the cameras should be kept because they work, saying one could also say burning a house down to get rid of a hornet’s nest would also work, but the cameras fail the test of what it means to be an American and the test of Fosterites everywhere.
Of those whose vehicles and license plates are captured on cameras, 99.956 percent are innocent of any wrongdoing whatsoever, said Chippendale. He said he wants every tool available to police, but not if it “not if it craps on the rights of everyone to do it.”
The decision to cancel wasn’t seen as unanimous by the audience on Thursday, though the large majority favored cancelling the contract. Concerns ranged from privacy, to cases of abuse, to security, to AI data collection.
The ACLU of RI hailed the cancellation as a victory. The organization also posted other recent updates on Flock cameras, including:
Gov. McKee’s 60-day Camera Installation Pause: As of August 18, the Governor is temporarily pausing the installation of RI State Police ALPR cameras, and for asking municipalities to do the same, while the State Police review privacy policies surrounding the system. The existing Flock Safety systems will continue to be in use. In the meantime, the ACLU of RI will continue to call on cities and towns that have these systems to cancel their contracts with Flock Safety. Read their full statement on the pause.
North Kingstown: The Town Council voted 3-2 on Monday, August 18 to cancel their Flock Safety contract.
Glocester: The Town Council voted 4-1 on Thursday, August 6 to cancel their Flock Safety contract.
Narragansett: The Town Council voted unanimously on Monday, August 3 to cancel their Flock Safety contract.
South Kingstown: The Town Council voted unanimously on Monday, July 27 to cancel their Flock Safety contract.
Tiverton: On Monday, July 27, the Town Council voted 3-1 (with three absent) to approve a Flock Safety contract for four cameras subject to the solicitor’s review, and the addition of a termination clause. The Council had previously allocated $23k for the cameras in the budget.
Note: More comments from Thursday’s meeting will be added later.
