Four months ago four police officers in their squad cars wrongfully ambushed my wife and me after tracking us with Flock cameras for days. A month ago Tusday our city council voted to cancel its Flock contract. Today, the Flock cameras are still installed around the city. Flock’s refusing to acknowledge the canceled contract.
Plymouth Police Chief Eric Fadden told The Drive, “As you’re well aware, the City Council voted to discontinue the use of Flock ALPRs at the Sept. 22 meeting. On the morning of Sept. 23, we suspended all Plymouth user Flock accounts and notified Flock Safety of the Council’s decision. We followed up with a formal letter of cancellation via US Mail and email after consulting with our City Attorney’s Office.”
Fadden said, “We did not hear any reply from Flock Safety Corporate or Legal, other than some communication with our local representative.”
Flock’s silence and refusal to comply with the canceled contract forced the Police Chief to take matters into his own hands. “After hearing nothing for more than a week, I directed our staff to disconnect the power cords from the cameras in order to be sure that they are not functioning or recording plates,” Fadden said.
I went and checked two Flock cameras in Plymouth and sure enough the power cords were unplugged from the cameras.
Flock is a subscription service. When police departments sign a contract Flock installs and supplies the hardware along with software access. “The cameras are the property of Flock and we continue to reach out to them asking for a timeline in which the cameras will be removed. I do not have a definitive answer to share with you at this time,” Fadden said.
The Drive reached out to Flock multiple times requesting insights into what the process is supposed to look like when a contract is cancelled and the corresponding timeline, but the company did not respond.
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The post My City Canceled Flock’s Contract. Flock Ignored It, So the Police Chief Unplugged the Cameras appeared first on The Drive.