AYER — The Select Board recently voted to take down the Flock Safety cameras — reportedly about 50 operating in town — and to immediately terminate the town’s contract with Flock Safety, the private company that owns them.
The three-member board came to its unanimous decision during their Aug. 31 meeting after hearing from several residents who spoke out against having the cameras in town.
William Barnes, of 52 Pleasant Street, said he had a “real concern” about Flock camera set-ups, including why a town of 10,000 residents with a low crime rate needs them. “Why here?” he said. “It systematically targets citizens.”
Troy Stevens, of 10 East Street said he feels “really bad” about deploying Flock cameras in town, or anywhere, calling it “China-style surveillance.” He suggested the data they collect could be misused.
Jessica Juno, of Mountain View Avenue said Flock’s track record isn’t good. “I know it’s about public safety,” she said, but she’s leery of a private company gathering personal information. Juno said more than 200 other communities have cancelled their contracts with the company, including the neighboring town of Littleton, which reportedly had trouble getting the cameras de-activated.
Kristen Fenney said a Flock camera points right at her apartment building on Central Street. “Why choose a residential neighborhood?” she said. “I’m concerned about my safety.” Knowing she’s being photographed, and that information may be shared about her is disturbing, she said, and, as a result, she might move. “I could be followed around…and as a single woman that’s an incredibly uneasy feeling,” she said. “I can’t step out my front door” without being caught on camera.”
Richard Finlay, of Pingry Way, was vehemently against Flock cameras in town and he demanded their removal. “It’s an invasion of privacy” that goes against the Constitution and “our democracy,” he said. “Everything about this is wrong…we’re being treated like a flock of sheep.” And he refuted the company’s claim that data is deleted after 30 days. “Nothing is deleted,” he said. “This is against the will of the people….the town didn’t vote on this!”
Ayer Select Board Chairman Chris Tavares then ended public discussion, thanking those who came to voice opinions.
“This is how government works,” he said, noting that he’d received numerous texts and e-mails on the same subject, he said some people had questioned whether installing the cameras was legal. “It is legal,” he said. But he said the way in which collected data has reportedly been used elsewhere is not.
Vice Chair Jannice Livingston made a motion to cancel Ayer’s contract with Flock “immediately.” As in “tomorrow morning.” Acting on a re-worded version of the motion, the board unanimously agreed.
Noting a nationwide “meltdown” that use of the cameras has caused, Livingston said Ayer’s set-up strategy should have been done differently. “This was bad,” she said…it’s not like video or cell phones….this was government sanctioned.” But, she added, the police chief’s push to install the cameras was about public safety. His concern was “solving crimes…when they happen,” she said.
Over two weeks later, the Flock cameras are still there, but are not operating.
According to a recent post on the town website, the cameras were deactivated on Sept. 1, the day after the board voted to do so.
“Per the Select Board’s vote on August 31, the contract with Flock Camera and the Town of Ayer is no longer in effect,” the post reads, in part.
The cameras and the poles they stand on don’t belong to the town, but to the company, Flock Safety, which installed them and must now take them down.
According to the Ayer Police Department post, “the final step in the process” is removing the cameras, but due to a current “backlog” nationwide, that may take awhile. Meanwhile, Police Chief Brian Gill is monitoring the cameras and network status to ensure they remain deactivated, the post states.
Based in Atlanta Georgia, Flock Group Inc., (Flock Safety) was founded in 2017 by three Georgia Tech. graduates and is a private manufacturer and operator of surveillance hardware and software. The Flock cameras installed in the town of Ayer — and elsewhere countrywide — use motion sensors to capture still images of passing vehicles and identify license plates. Primarily used by law enforcement, schools and residential communities, the company website describes them as tools that can help solve crimes, monitor traffic patterns, enhance event safety and assist in disaster response. The cameras communicate with each other, triggering alerts “in real time” if a vehicle matches a “hot list” of stolen cars, or cars associated with missing persons or other investigations.
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