Maries County requests more than $13,000 refund from Flock Safety following termination agreement
VIENNA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Maries County is waiting to be refunded more than $13,000 in Blue Shield Grant funds from Flock Safety after ending its automatic license plate reader project with the company Monday.
"I was a big fan of it, absolutely, it's a shame that it didn't work out," Maries County Sheriff Mark Morgan said.
Morgan initially announced the terminated contract, effective immediately, on Monday on Facebook. Morgan told ABC 17 News that a Flock Security representative confirmed with the county to appear on Zoom during a public input session on Oct. 15 to address residents' concerns about Flock.
"I wanted them to be able to explain the security protocols and explain to the citizens how that data is protected, because a lot of the citizens' concerns are not necessarily with having cameras," Morgan said. "They were like, 'Listen, Sheriff, we don't have a problem with you having the data, we have a problem with what the company is going to do with the data.' And I feel like that Flock should be able to explain that a lot better than me."
Morgan adds that he even notified the representative of the call about 10 minutes before the meeting, but they never showed.
Following the meeting, the Flock representative claimed their calendar never alerted them of the meeting.
"That was the reasoning, and I found that to be unacceptable," Morgan said.
Despite public scrutiny over the cameras, Morgan holds strong that the decision to end the partnership was due to the Flock representative. He adds that after speaking with other law enforcement agencies on the technology, he was more supportive of their use.
"The vast majority, in my opinion, of Maries County likes the idea of it, because people want us to be able to, when someone robs them or when someone takes something away from them, they expect us to be able to, they want us to go out and do our jobs," Morgan said. "As a sheriff, I have an obligation to try to give law enforcement in my county every tool that I can possibly give them."
Due to permitting issues, Maries County was unable to implement any Flock ALPR cameras. Morgan, however, reports the agreement with Flock Security was around $13,300. According to Flock Camera Locations, there are more than 3,000 ALPR cameras in Missouri.
The county now has to wait for advice from the state on what to do with the unused Blue Shield Grant.
"Whether we send it back to the state or whether the state tells us to find something else to use it for, it's really whatever the state advises us to do," Morgan said.
This comes as the City of Columbia plans to host its own public input meeting on Flock Safety technology on Nov. 9.
