The City of Bolivar is moving forward with plans to end its contract with Flock. During a meeting Tuesday night, Bolivar's Board of Alderman discussed the issue.
They were presented with a copy of a request from the city from last Friday. It asked Flock to remove five cameras. Tuesday, they drafted an email requesting permission to cover the cameras until Flock is able to remove them. They also planned to ask that Flock immediately cease using any data from Bolivar's cameras.
Lack of control over data, and the questionable legality of Flock's data sharing across jurisdictions have been points of contentions across the country. That concern prompted a sense of urgency for many on the board who asked the city to consider obstructing or covering the cameras immediately. Some on the board and City Administrator Thomas Relford were cautious about being too hasty.
“I have an issue with that,” Relford explained, “I personally have an issue from an ethical standpoint, breaking a contract and directing my staff to that, so I would prefer not to do that, and I would probably refuse to that.”
The board voted to give the company 48 hours to respond to their request to cover the cameras, and depending on Flock's response; the board scheduled a potential special meeting later this week to follow-up. The city has paid through the end of its current contract and was prepared to lose that money.
The meeting illustrated a number of complications and considerations cities must make as ongoing public criticism of Flock and similar camera technology mounts and city governments respond.
Bolivar's decision to end its Flock contract was made in July; the board cited strong public opinion.