By Sharron Luttrell
Amid concerns over personal privacy, the Select Board will discuss on Wednesday whether to ban or control the use of Flock cameras and other automated license plate readers.
While Mendon isn’t among the roughly 100 police departments in Massachusetts that use Flock cameras, some in town want to make sure it stays that way.
Carl Hommel, who sits on several town committees, asked the Select Board at its Aug. 5 meeting to regulate the use of surveillance technology in town, including Flock cameras. And recently, Finance Committee Chair Michael Krager submitted a proposed bylaw to the Select Board that would ban Flock cameras and their competitors.
“I don’t think it’s something Mendon needs and I want to make sure we put in place ways to stop it,” Krager said.
Flock cameras are typically installed on roadways to record video of passing vehicles. The devices capture license plate information, vehicle make and model, and details such as roof racks, dents and bumper stickers. The information is time-stamped and stored in a nationwide database.
Proponents of the technology say it aids in law enforcement investigations. Critics say the network of Flock cameras track people’s movements without their knowledge and the company lacks safeguards to protect personal information from illegal or unintended use.
“It eliminates privacy, and that’s a bedrock of the Fourth Amendment,” Select Board Chair Michael Merolli said. “It’s gathering all this data that can be put to uses other than just catching bad guys on the roadway. It makes sense to study it.”
In recent weeks, a number of area police departments have canceled or opted not to renew contracts with Flock Safety because of privacy concerns. A Stow police officer resigned earlier this month ahead of his dismissal from the department for illegally using the technology to track a woman he had been in a relationship with. Police departments in New Bedford and Lynn have placed police officers on administrative leave for unauthorized Flock searches. Stow severed its relationship with Flock Safety as have police departments in Douglas, Bellingham, Framingham, Hopkinton, Grafton and Auburn, among others in Massachusetts.
At its meeting Wednesday, the Select Board will decide whether to refer Krager’s proposed bylaw to the General Bylaws Review Committee. Police Chief David Kurczy, who said he has no plans to pursue a contract with Flock Safety, will weigh in on the technology and whether the town should regulate or ban it. The board may also seek a legal opinion from town counsel, Merolli said.
“We’re trying to be proactive about it, not a knee-jerk reaction to it, but just study it and get through all the noise to find out if it makes sense to control it, or whether we should just outright ban it,” Merolli said.
If the town does pursue a bylaw, it will be put to a vote at Special Town Meeting Oct. 27. A ban would not extend to private businesses.
If the Select Board opts not to pursue a bylaw, Krager said he will collect the 100 signatures needed to place the question before Special Town Meeting.
“I’m not going to say it has zero value whatsoever, but it’s a tradeoff between safety and personal privacy,” Krager said.
The Select Board meets Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in upper Town Hall. The meeting can be accessed via Zoom. The Zoom link is also available on the board’s agenda.
