Columbia City Council votes to implement Flock security cameras

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia City Council voted 5-2 to implement Flock security cameras during Monday night's council meeting.

Ward 3 Councilman Roy Lovelady and Ward 1 Councilwoman Valerie Carroll voted against the cameras.

In a separate vote, council members unanimously passed the policies for the use of cameras. 

"Every day when I get up and read my email in the morning, there's a litany of emails from officers saying, 'Hey, I went to this call. The only suspect information is this type of car' or they may have gotten a partial license plate number, but they really don't know who it is. So the application to this is huge," Columbia Police Chief Jill Schlude told ABC 17 after the vote. "I think that's one of the most attractive things about the system to me is that it's important that obviously violent crime is a priority, but we also are getting inundated with a lot of different types of crime in the city. o being able to apply this to not only violent crime situations, but a rise in retail theft, auto theft is definitely one of the higher rising crimes in the city."

Flock Safety cameras are designed to capture images of license plates under various conditions, including nighttime and severe weather, according to its website. The cameras use Automatic License Plate Readers to provide real-time alerts to law enforcement. The data can be shared between multiple law enforcement agencies to help with investigations. It will be used by both the police department and the Parks and Recreation Department.

Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson was in favor of the cameras arguing it will make it easier for law enforcement. According to CPD, four of the five security cameras they have available downtown are not working, which has limited some of the investigative work they do. 

The Columbia Board of Realtors is also in favor of the cameras, saying it will help make the community safer. 

“Our clients continue to express concerns over public safety in Columbia. Adding a tool like Flock can help reduce crime, benefiting everyone who lives, works, and visits the city,” Alissa Gerke, the 2024 Board President, said in a statement. 

Not everyone is on board with the idea. Attorney Dan Viets was one of the most vocal critics against the cameras, arguing that they would bring Columbia closer to George Orwell’s 1984. 

“I do not think the public understands that we're talking about installing at least 30  video surveillance cameras throughout the city.  And that's unprecedented,” Viets said. “That's something very different from just expanding license plate readers.” 

Viets also expressed concerns over the data being used by Flock to promote the product. 

“I hope the council decides to require some real evidence of effectiveness before they spend half a million dollars of our tax money,” Viets said the day of the vote. “Whether they solve crime or whether they prevent crime is totally speculation at this point. There is no objective there's no independent evidence of that. There are no studies.  There's no analysis outside of the company itself,  which shows that they really do any good. “ 

Schlude responded to concerns by saying the department takes the responsibility of handling all that data seriously.

"I think it actually affects me personally because I’m the one who advocated for this very publicly. I am not naive. I don't think I can catch every single thing that happens.  The idea is, though, to set up a system where there is a fear that your name number is going to get drawn or that your queries are going to get looked at. and that's kind of a deterrent effect," Schlude explained.

The city gave the public ample opportunity to provide feedback on the cameras including several listening sessions in August as well as gathering feedback from residents. CPD received 12 public comment cards about the Flock system, with mixed feedback. Six residents were in favor of the cameras, three were strongly opposed, and the remaining three either asked questions or left no comment.

The security system would be financed through general fund reserves and the CPD budget. The initial cost of the contract would be $539,400 for the first year then $476,000 annually. The Columbia Parks and Recreation Department will pay $45,450 initially, then $39,000 annually. 

Flock claims the cameras do not capture identifiable images of people or faces. CPD says that the cameras would also not be used for traffic enforcement. 

More than 200 agencies across Missouri already use Flock cameras including the Jefferson City Police Department, Lee’s Summit, Webster Grove PD, Cape Girardeau PD, O’Fallon PD, and the St. Charles County Sheriff’s Office, according to CPD's presentation in August. The City of Fulton entered into an agreement with Flock in February, according to previous reporting.

The data from the cameras is only stored for 30 days.

CPD laid out a plan that would include replacing the five downtown security cameras with live feed cameras from Flock that can pan, tilt and zoom. Thirteen license plate reader cameras would be spread out across Albert-Oakland Park, the Garth Nature area, the Cosmopolitan Recreational area, the MTK trail, and the Gans Creek Recreational Area.  Eight license plate reader cameras will also be placed on Highway 63 with eight more on Interstate 70. 

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Each ward will also receive a handful of cameras and intersection packages from Flock. An intersection package consists of four license plate reading cameras and two fixed live-feed cameras. Here is the breakdown by ward. 

• Ward 1:
  • 3 Intersection packages
  • 0 license plate readers
• Ward 2:
  • 2 Intersection packages 
  • 4 license plate readers
• Ward 3:
  • 3 intersection packages
  • 2 license plate readers
• Ward 4
  • 3 intersection packages
  • 0 license plate readers
• Ward 5
  • 1 intersection package
  • 2 license plate readers 
• Ward 6
  • 2 intersection packages 
  • 4 license plate readers

CPD has previously suggested using a camera system in Columbia called Fusus, which the City Council rejected following community pushback at a November 2022 council meeting. The council voted 4-3 against using that surveillance software. 

During that vote, current council members Roy Lovelady and Nick Foster voted against the cameras while Betsy Peters and Mayor Barbara Buffaloe voted in favor of the cameras.