HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — With Flock cameras at the forefront of many legislative discussions this week, the City of Huntington continues its efforts to implement its $2.1 million contract with the surveillance company.
Two ordinances were brought before Huntington City Council Monday night, one from Mayor Patrick Farrell and another from Councilwoman Tia Rumbaugh. Both ordinances had to do with what the Flock Technology cameras could and couldn’t do, if implemented in the city. Flock cameras have been a contentious issue in the city since last month’s marathon council meeting that ended around 4 a.m.
At the conclusion of the July meeting, Huntington’s City Council voted 6-4 in favor of the contract. Since then, there have been significant concerns raised about what the artificial intelligence-using company could use for its surveillance reach. The legislature discussed Flock during a lengthy interim committee meeting in Charleston Sunday.
Farrell told the Council that his ordinance emanated from discussions he had at the West Virginia Municipal League Conference last week in the Capital City. Farrell, along with municipal leaders from across the state, gathered to share ideas at the conference.
“(We) took into account many ordinances from around the country,” Farrell said. “We looked at state legislatures that have enabled ordinances, cities that have done it, and cities in West Virginia that are doing it, and asking them ‘how’s it going? What’s working? What’s not working? What are the safeguards you’re putting in place and what should we be putting in place?'”
Farrell highlighted that those discussions included who could have access to what Flock recorded, in addition to what the cameras capture in the first place. Farrell once again reiterated that the cameras are primarily used for felony-related activity, not small things such as Big Brother surveillance.
“It also very explicitly talks about the Fourth Amendment, very explicitly talks about that we are rejecting, explicitly rejecting, mass surveillance,” Farrell said. “Nobody wants to live in a surveillance state; nobody wants to be spied on, least of all me. That’s not what we’re doing.”
Farrell said that laws would not be broken with Flock usage.
“We’re not issuing speeding tickets with these cameras,” Farrell explained. “It is, in fact, illegal already in West Virginia to use cameras for traffic violations. That is not the intent of this system, it is not possible with this system, we are not doing it, it is illegal in West Virginia, and I cannot say that enough to all of you.”
There have been some staggering amounts of drug activity in Huntington, Farrell reported. Over the past 19 months, he said the city has seized 40 pounds of fentanyl. Per Farrell’s research on the CDC, that amount is enough for 9 million lethal doses. He said that’s enough lethal doses to kill everybody in Huntington, 200 times.
The need for Flock cameras, Farrell said, is to crack down on cartels operating in the city. He said the technology will help the police department find the people responsible for distributing controlled substances and try and stop them.
“When they’re selling drugs in the city, typically the violent crime that happens here, the worst of the violent crime, happens because of drugs,” Farrell said. “The murders, the homicides, that happened earlier this year we’ve talked about. It was two on 4th Avenue, there was another on 9th Avenue.”
That activity is brought on because of drug-related cartel behavior, Farrell emphasized.
Meanwhile, Huntington City Councilwoman Sarah Walling was dubious about a rush to institute ordinances. She said she still has concerns about Flock.
“What is the rush to spend this money, and get these things up, and send out contracts that are still under negotiation, and ordinances that are still being revised by multiple people within the administration?” Walling asked. “It reflects poorly on us.”
According to Walling, Farrell’s ordinance included an accepted usage of Flock cameras for “special events that need heightened security.”
“So, are we going to have the cameras at every Marshall football game?” Walling wondered. “Are we going to have them out at every concert? How are we going to do that? It’s not defined.”
Rumbaugh expressed frustration that an ordinance may not be in place when the contract supposedly went into effect, September 1. However, per Council Chairman Mike Shockley, the contract won’t move forward until ground rules are established.
Another Councilwoman, Holly Smith Mount, said the council should review both ordinances and combine them.
“Take them, review them, come together in a meeting on the public record, go through them and talk about what parts need to remain from each,” Mount said. “Because I was on the impression that y’all were working on these together. I was actually surprised when two of them hit my inbox at the same time.”