Woodstock officials have approved the purchase of several Flock cameras to assist with surveillance around the Woodstock Square despite board member and resident concerns.
Following a lengthy meeting at Woodstock city hall Tuesday night, Woodstock Mayor Michael Turner and council members Bob Seegers, Gregg Hanson and Tom Nierman voted in favor of purchasing six Flock cameras for use around the Woodstock Square.
City council members Natalie Ziemba, Melissa McMahon and Darrin Flynn voted against the measure.
The contract calls for Woodstock to purchase 6 cameras from Flock Safety Group to cover the Square for $21,800 in the first year and $21,500 during the subsequent two years.
City council members chose against a second proposal with Modern Media Tech, LLC, for the purchase of eight cameras at a total cost of $44,900, plus an additional $9,600 data recording and storage fee.
The split vote came after the Woodstock City Council previously discussed an ordinance proposed for a lease agreement between the Woodstock Police Department and Flock at its November 4 meeting.
The proposed three-year agreement was for six surveillance video cameras — not license plate reader cameras — to be installed at the Woodstock Square.
The ordinance failed to pass at the November 4 meeting after a tied 3-3 vote. Turner was absent at the meeting that day.
During the previous meeting, McMahon asked several questions about the proposal, including where the camera footage would be stored, who has access to the video and who could obtain the footage.
McMahon said previously that the addition of the cameras would make people feel watched and could serve as an invasion of people’s privacy.
She also said she was not comfortable with Flock as a company.
Seegers said previously he supported the proposal and believes it would be better if the security cameras included facial recognition to help police solve crimes.
Residential concerns in November and again on Tuesday included allowing outside agencies – like ICE and the federal government – to gain access to the system.
Other residents said the Woodstock Square is a place for people to shop and visit, and that the cameras would change the city by having “big brother” watching.
Several residents said their concerns were with Flock as a company, and they were worried about the company having access to the data.
Woodstock Police said the city council gave guidance to implement a security video solution for the Woodstock Square.
In addition, the Woodstock Police Department was awarded a one-time $9,000 Organized Retail Crime grant through the Office of the Illinois Attorney General to assist with the purchase of video cameras.
The grant award must be spent during this fiscal year.
The Phase I portion of the project, in the area of Benton Street and Main Street, is nearly complete.
The police department originally planned to begin in the next fiscal year to implement Phase II of the plan on the Square. However, the grant award announcement has moved up that timeline.
The city is already in a five-year agreement with Flock Safety Group for automated license plate readers (ALPR) placed around the city.