In Woodstock, Illinois, residents are calling for the removal of surveillance cameras installed by controversial security and technology company Flock Safety Group.
Here's what to know
According to the Lake & McHenry County Scanner, Woodstock City Council approved a three-year contract with Flock Safety Group for six surveillance cameras on the Woodstock Square in a 4-3 vote, after a similar measure had failed in November.
Woodstock was already separately under a five-year agreement for 13 automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, located around the city and on the Woodstock Square, according to Lake & McHenry County Scanner, but that did not stop local residents from protesting the move.
Leading much of the opposition is Don Francis, who heads the local organization Stop Flock in Woodstock. The group says its concern is not with police or cameras generally, but with the way Flock gathers and handles data, the outlet reported.
"We believe mass surveillance and data collection on this scale infringes on our Fourth Amendment right to privacy, and we are hoping our elected officials will listen to their constituents about this," Francis said, as the Lake & McHenry County Scanner reported.
To mitigate concerns, the city has launched a new transparency portal.
TCD Picks » Quince Spotlight
💡These best-sellers from Quince deliver affordable, sustainable luxury for all
The portal says Flock keeps data for 30 days, and, as the Lake & McHenry County Scanner reported, it also shows that more than 232,000 license plates were logged, more than 1,600 matched a "hotlist," and the Woodstock Police Department conducted 31 searches.
More background
The transparency portal also shows that the Woodstock Police Department shares this information with police departments and villages across Illinois, the Lake & McHenry County Scanner reported.
Stop Flock in Woodstock has also cited Flock's broader track record, including allegations that law enforcement officers have misused the system. One example, as the Lake & McHenry County Scanner reported, is Holiday Hills Police Chief William Copp, who was charged in June after allegedly making hundreds of Flock searches unrelated to official investigations.
The group also says that, in other cases, wrongly identified license plates have caused officers to pursue or arrest innocent people by mistake.
Similar concerns have come up at city council meetings, where some residents said the Woodstock Square should be a place to shop and gather, not one with what they described as "Big Brother" watching, as the Lake & McHenry County Scanner reported.
What's being done?
City officials, however, have defended the systems as useful for investigations and public safety.
Officials also say the Square cameras do not read license plates, and that camera systems are covered by Woodstock Police Department General Order #30-007, which addresses "authorized use, access, data retention, auditing and accountability."
The city also said, according to the Lake & McHenry County Scanner, "Footage and data captured by these systems are automatically and permanently deleted after 30 days unless preserved as evidence or otherwise required to be retained by law."
Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.
