A police chief in an Oklahoma community made the decision this week to cancel his department’s contract with Flock Safety after numerous citizens expressed concerns that the technology threatened their privacy and civil liberties
Coweta Police Chief Michael Bell decided that two plate-reading cameras in his city of roughly 12,000 people were not worth the erosion of public trust, so he contacted Flock Safety Tuesday to end the relationship.
The city made the announcement on social media:
During a Thursday afternoon conversation with The Western Journal, Bell explained why the city of Coweta, which is about a 25-minute drive from the heart of Tulsa, will no longer be using the company’s services.
Many in the community were already upset with the city about negotiations over another hot-button issue — city leaders agreeing to bring a data center to the area without their input.
That plan fell apart after residents came together in strong opposition to city leadership over the matter.
Do you agree with the chief’s decision?
Yes: 83% (10 Votes)
No: 17% (2 Votes)
A San Francisco-based company later withdrew its proposal for the facility after months of intense opposition from Coweta residents, area news station KOTV-TV reported.
“It really fractured the relationship that the city government had with its citizens,” Bell told The Western Journal. “When I looked at that, I said, ‘We can’t continue this fractured relationship. We’ve got to start listening to our citizens when they complain about something.’”
The chief added, “Lo and behold, the next thing that came up was the Flock cameras.”
Bell acknowledged concerns about Flock cameras, but said many people have misconceptions about what they do and do not do — such as endlessly surveil people and scan their faces.
“The cameras don’t do anything like that, but I felt like, as a chief, if I kept the threat there — that the public felt threatened by the Flock cameras — I wasn’t going to get a chance to have a good dialogue with them,” he said.
The cameras can be useful during Silver Alerts to find dementia patients who have gone missing, he said. He added that his city even used them to locate an armed robbery suspect.
However, trust between the officers on his force and the citizens they serve is paramount, the veteran chief told The Western Journal.
Bell said he hopes to eventually speak with people in his city and explain to them the benefits of the plate readers, but he admitted that now is not that time.
He also made it clear that he was not trying to start a trend, and that he would rather use the readers — just not at the expense of alienating the people of Coweta.
“Let’s show that we can actually listen to our citizens; let’s show that we’re not afraid to make that step, get rid of the Flocks, and then we can actually sit down and have a conversation with them and hopefully get our citizens back to where they trust their government, and we can work together,” he said.
Bell said the cameras will be gone in a matter of weeks, and that he intends to keep his city safe with or without the assistance of the controversial Flock system.
“We will be able to adapt,” he said.
The chief also said that his decision to cancel his city’s Flock contract put him at odds with some area law enforcement agency leaders, but that he ultimately answers to the people of Coweta.
“I want everybody to understand that I didn’t make this [decision] for the bigger picture; I made it for my community,” he said. “I’m the chief here — I need the support of the community, and if I don’t have that, I really don’t have a police department. I need to listen to what the public is saying.”
Bell was praised by area residents when his department made its initial announcement Tuesday.
Even some who wanted the cameras to remain shared a sense of gratitude that he was willing to listen to their neighbors.
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