<\/p>\n
Activists and residents show their opposition to Flock Safety cameras at a well-attended Troy City Council meeting on Thursday<\/p>\n
Tyler A. McNeil\/Times Union<\/p>\n
A Flock Safety camera is seen on March 16 on the corner of Hill Street, Ida Street and Spring Avenue in Troy. The city has disabled a feature that shares data collected by the cameras with a nationwide surveillance network.<\/p>\n
Lori Van Buren\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Activists and residents oppose Flock Safety cameras at a standing-room-only Troy City Council meeting on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Tyler A. McNeil\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Troy Deputy Police Chief Steven Barker discusses Flock Safety cameras at a full Troy City Council meeting on Thursday. He was sitting alongside Troy Mayor Carmella Mantello, Deputy Mayor Seamus Donnelly and Police Chief Daniel DeWolf.<\/p>\n
Tyler A. McNeil\/Times Union<\/p>\n
TROY\u00a0\u2014 City police have temporarily shut off the national search feature for Flock Safety cameras amid controversy<\/a> over the company\u2019s automated license plate readers.<\/p>\n Troy Deputy Police Chief Steven Barker told the Times Union that the agency on Thursday paused its ability to retrieve and share license plate data for the time being from Flock\u2019s extensive network. There\u2019s no definitive timeline on how long the feature will be disabled.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Barker, who has previously expressed confidence in the city\u2019s 26 automated license plate readers from the Atlanta-based company, noted in an email that the decision was made \u201ccollectively\u201d as city officials \u201ccontinue to collect feedback from the public regarding this ongoing resource.\u201d<\/p>\n Related: Flock Safety AI-powered cameras face uncertain future in Troy<\/a><\/p>\n More: A Hudson Valley town tried to secretly install surveillance cameras. An uproar ensued.<\/a><\/p>\n Make the Times Union a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our journalism when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n More: Poestenkill rejects sheriff\u2019s office proposal for license plate readers at Town Hall<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Since early March, there\u2019s been a growing push among Troy\u00a0residents and progressive activists to remove Flock\u2019s readers from neighborhoods<\/a> due to privacy and mass-surveillance concerns. The movement mirrors efforts across the country and in the Hudson Valley and Capital Region, including a controversial proposal from the Rensselaer County Sheriff\u2019s Office that was rejected by Poestenkill lawmakers<\/a> to install a Flock camera in the rural\u00a0town, and complaints about the installation of\u00a0cameras in Pine Plains<\/a>.<\/p>\n The national search feature was disabled less than 24 hours before opponents called on officials at a Troy City Council meeting to sever ties with the six-year contractor, whose subscription is set to expire on March 31.<\/p>\n The Democratic council, also skeptical of the company, ultimately tabled a request from Republican Mayor Carmella Mantello\u2019s administration to renew the biennial $78,000 Flock contract.<\/p>\n After reviewing the proposal last week, councilors discovered that the contract would automatically renew if no cancellation notice were provided within 30 days. That window has already expired.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The administration has insisted that legislative approval matters. Patrick Madden, the former mayor and a Democrat, never approached the council when it first brought in Flock in 2021 or when it renewed the subscription in 2023.<\/p>\n But City Council President Susan\u00a0Steele said neither Mantello\u2019s gesture nor disabling the national search feature does much to address concerns about data security and privacy\u00a0surrounding the cameras.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it is a victory, it\u2019s a minor one,\u201d Steele said. \u201cThere are still an awful lot of questions that have gone unanswered, and so I don\u2019t think there are any winners in this situation.\u201d<\/p>\n Flock has showcased the national data sharing model as a way to make cross-jurisdictional cases easier to resolve across a wide network of cameras. Flock has contracts with more than 5,000 agencies across the country, according to its website.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n