HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Despite the misgivings of dozens of speakers during the public portion of their Monday meeting, Huntington City Council agreed to move forward with a contract with Flock Safety for a security camera system for the city of Huntington.
The council agreed to the $2.1 Million dollar contract after public comments of more than 50 people who were almost universally against the idea. The vote was taken while a massive protest happened on the street outside city hall and many protestors came before the council to speak against the matter. The council meeting didn’t end until just before 4 a.m. Tuesday.
“All of us have friends who have joined the United States military and fought for freedom, some of them died. They didn’t do all that just to come home to a police state. That’s not welcome in America,” said one speaker about the potential problems the Flock Security cameras create.
Unlike normal security system, Flock features Artificial Intelligence capability with a near endless ability to gather data on individuals. Flock has defended their systems saying they are simply the producers and it’s up go local governments to decide what the limits will be on the use of those capabilities. However, many speaking during Monday night/Tuesday morning’s marathon public portion of the meeting worried that won’t always be the case.
“In other cities that have implemented Flock cameras, these have been used by perpetrators to stalk their victims. This has been reported by many local and national news outlets,” said speaker Melinda Perin.
Another speaker suggested the systems even after the contract expired and data was wiped will still remain active somewhere and the data exists forever.
“I can’t think of a single person who wants this. We don’t need it, it’s proven it doesn’t do anything. It’s so Orwellian in nature and it’s such a frightening idea knowing Big Brother is always going to be watching you and there’s not a way to opt out,” suggested a speaker who identified himself as Isaac.
The city’s contract with Flock Technologies will be a five year agreement. The system will be operated by the Huntington Police Department. It will include 40 license plate readers, two drones, 17 cameras, and two gunshot detectors along with additional non-descript technology. The council agreed to an amendment which would call for a review of the technology and its effectiveness each year during the budget process for the police department. Council members say the measure would allow them to end the technology by not appropriating the funds if they system is proving ineffective or creating problems.
“If it’s not going to be FOIA requests that keep you tied up, it’s going to be the lawsuits that come out of these things,” warned another speaker. “It is going to bankrupt the city. Actions have consequences and you’re making your own bed, unfortunately it’s not just you sleeping in it, it’s all of us.”