The City of Stoughton will vote on whether it will terminate its contract with Flock today after residents have voiced their continued concerns about privacy, the method by which the cameras came to be in the area, and the belief that it degrades the quality of the police force.
The vote follows a public safety commission meeting the prior week on July 22. At the meeting, many residents of Stoughton expressed their deep concerns for the city’s ongoing contract with Flock despite neighboring cities in Dane County that have ceased using the cameras. Flock’s current contract with Stoughton is through next year as the city has four automatic licence plate readers (ALPR) and one live feed camera.
“We’ve been asking for a public process. Like some kind of public input. This impacts all of our lives. We want to have a discussion about it,” said Lorrie Forde Hurckes, a resident of Stoughton who attended the meeting. “The way that [Mayor Tim Swadley] was just like, ‘Well, we’re going to wait and see what all the people around us are doing, and we’ll just do that because that’s how it’ll get networked.’ You’re not listening at all. That’s the thing.”
At the meeting, the public safety commission brought the item to the front of the agenda due to the unusually large attendance. Many residents gave public comments on their wish to end Stoughton’s contract with Flock.
Comments ranged from passionate cries that Flock only hurts Stoughton, they didn’t move here to be surveilled by a private company, it will prevent others from coming to the city because they do not want to live somewhere to be constantly watched, the cameras have no positive effect on reducing crime, data privacy and how it causes police to become overly reliant on tech that does not belong to the city.
Following discussion with the public safety commission, the city will still have to pay for the contract regardless. The total cost is $25,000 across two years — $12,500 each year. The City of Stoughton will still be required to pay $12,500 if it opts to end its contract with Flock.
“I really see some high-level lame quotes tonight from our mayor that I think are really significant as far as his casualness around the spending,” said Sarah Esmond, another resident at the meeting. “It was very disingenuous. Also, he took the initiative to draft this resolution, but bypassed all this commentary that has been coming at him for a month, which is incredibly discouraging.”
(Photo by Omar Waheed)
The resolution Mayor Swadley drafted for the public safety commission did not fully align with what Stoughton residents pushed for, a group of residents told Madison365 after the meeting.
It opted for four different options:
- The City will no longer use Flock Pole Cameras.
- The City will terminate its contract with Flock.
- The City will cease use of the Flock Pole Camera and the Flock ALRP.
- The City will terminate its agreement with Flock, but partner with other municipalities to provide an equivalent product with control over data.
Issues residents had with the options are that none are what they have been voicing for over a month. Only one of the options outright terminates the contract with Flock, while the others offer a replacement or a continued contract without using specific equipment.
For the Flock Pole Camera — the one live feed camera — it is pointed directly at the apartment complex that houses the highest concentration of Stoughton’s population of color, which residents pointed out. It also sits in front of the high school, so residents found additional concern about the constant surveillance of children.
Madison365 headed out to the camera to confirm its placement. It is pointed directly at the Cascade Falls apartment complex, 1233 Jackson St. It is not pointed at the street. It only surveils where people of color live.
Residents urged that they simply do not want another vendor if the contract with Flock is ended, and, should the city seek to have a replacement, public meetings are held instead of defaulting to a single budget line item for capital improvements.
“We are also asking for a binding policy resolution that prevents this from happening again, regardless of what the budget comes from, of the subscription or whatever, so that they or other vendors can’t use the same sneaky backdoor mechanism to insert themselves before there is appropriate process of public comment and voting and council approval,” said Suzanne Larson.
The public safety commission ultimately voted unanimously in favor of the resolution. One public safety member did opt to add to the resolution that if city council votes in favor of ending the contract, bags will be placed over cameras immediately the morning after to make the five unable to record or read license plates.
The resolution is a recommendation that the city council vote to end the contract. Whether the contract ends is up to the city council.
Stoughton City Council will vote on whether to end the city’s contract with Flock tonight between 7-9 p.m. at the Stoughton Public Safety Building, 321 S. 4th St. The meeting is also available via stream.
