GovTech reported that Lockport's Common Council voted 5-1 on Wednesday to revoke prior permission for all Flock Safety cameras in the city. Police Chief Steven Abbott counts eight of them in Lockport.
The vote followed nearly 10 public comments in favor of the resolution. The reporting does not say how long the comments ran or how the council discussed the item beyond the vote.
What did the council vote on?
- Vote: 5-1, on Wednesday
- Sponsor: Kathryn Fogle, 4th Ward alderman
- Lone no vote: Rowland O'Malley, 3rd Ward alderman and council president
- Cameras covered: eight Flock cameras in the city
Fogle said she proposed the resolution because of concerns about the security of Flock's data system. After the vote, she said she no longer supports replacing Flock cameras with another brand, saying she does not want them replaced 'not even by Axon now.'
What changes for drivers in Lockport?
The resolution covers the city's Flock cameras. What the vote does is revoke the city's prior permission for those eight cameras. Whether they come down, and when, is not in the reporting.
Drivers outside city limits are not covered by this vote. The reporting describes a countywide Flock system run by the Niagara County Sheriff's Office and funded by a federal Homeland Security grant. Sheriff Michael Filicetti did not respond to a request for the current camera total. Last year he said his goal was 67 cameras.
The Axon cameras mounted in police cars, which Fogle described as an alternative tool, are not part of this vote as reported. Nothing in the reporting says they are changing.
Do the cameras record cars or passengers?
Abbott said the eight city cameras do not take video of cars or passengers. 'Plate readers are a still image,' he said.
Several speakers, including some from Erie County, said they believed there is no limit to what Flock cameras can do or to the consequences of the data they collect. Former mayor Michelle Roman said deleting data from local devices does not mean the company deletes it everywhere, and resident Steven Cursio said Flock has a relationship with Palantir Technologies. Those are the speakers' claims, and the reporting does not verify them.
What is still unknown?
The reporting does not say when the eight cameras will come down, who will handle the removal, or what happens to stored plate data after removal. It also does not say whether the city plans to replace them with any other system.
For background on how these systems log plates, read how plate readers work. To see where Flock and other plate readers are mapped, check the camera map.
Residents who want to know what happens next can ask the Lockport Police Department or the Common Council whether the eight cameras will come down, and when.