Dublin Council Discusses Flock Cameras Use
By DAVID QUESENBERRY
Patriot Publishing
The Dublin Town Council at its September meeting discussed the status of Flock camera use by the Town.
Chief David King told Council that both he and Town Manager Darrin Cullip had discussed the issue and he had been asked to determine the cost of either moving forward with the cameras or ending their use.
Councilman Doug Poe asked how many times this year the cameras had been used. Chief King responded that they had not been used as much this year due to the General Assembly’s creation of a state code section that “essentially made it basically a nuisance to operate them because of the restrictions they placed on them.” Prior to this year, Chief King said the department had about 10 successes using the cameras involving recovery of stolen trailers; stolen license plates; stolen vehicles; locating wanted suspects; and hit-and-run accidents. He added that some of these incidents would not have been solved without the aid of the cameras. King said the cameras were a great tool to have, but he noted the strong anti-government sentiment of the people and the “bad propaganda” around concerning the cameras alleged ability to get private information from cell phones and the like. Mayor Debbie Lyons asked if that was true of these cameras. Chief King responded it was not.
Town Manager Darrin Cullip noted that citizens were complaining of being watched, but “when that one serious crime happens, that may be the tool that solves something, that would have never been solved.” The use regulations were posted on the Town’s website he said and that it may be Council’s pleasure to limit access to the system to Chief King or for a certain serious crime. These questions he added, were why the issue was brought to the Council.
Councilman Poe asked who has access to the Flock system other than the Town’s Police Department. Chief King replied that new legislation held that information could not be shared with anyone out of state or with federal agencies. Many agencies had cancelled their contract for the cameras, but King did not know exactly how many.
Town Attorney Trent Crewe added that there was a lot of misinformation about the cameras and that there was legally nothing wrong with them. Flock did not have audio capability nor could it track anybody’s cell phone. “All it does,” he said, “is make a visual image of the vehicle going through the location.” Only a law enforcement officer could access the information.
Crewe said that the problems encountered were not caused by the cameras themselves, but of persons improperly accessing the information by not following the rules. The state tightened the rules a lot he said, after the Town got the Flock cameras. According to Crewe the Town has one year left on its contract with Flock. When localities began cancelling their agreements he said, Flock at first offered a fairly reasonable buyout. If less than a year remained on a contract, it would be cancelled at no cost. That policy was discontinued. At to the standing of the Town’s contract, Crewe said the town still had a year to pay whether they used the cameras or shut them down.
Crew added the information that the camera provides is for the police only. The access to this information is now much more regulated than it was two years ago when the cameras were purchased by the Town.
Councilman Poe asked how much the Town was paying each for the cameras. Chief King responded it was around $12,000 with some of the cost covered by grants. He estimated that the payoff for the units was $8,400. The cost of a contract renewal would be $3,000 per camera or $12,000 total.
Councilwoman Debbie Hager suggested that use of the system be limited to the Chief only. Chief King asked that he and a Sergeant be given access to the cameras. Councilman Poe agreed saying that given the public’s concern, access should be limited to two persons in the Department. After more discussion, Council voted unanimously to allow only the Chief and one officer to access the system and that use of the cameras would be revisited when the contract was up next year
Concerning the budget, Cullip said that it was only two months into the fiscal year but that the budget still looked good. He also informed Council that an ordinance would be brought before them at the October meeting to complete action on banning large trucks from Giles Avenue. He also said that work was continuing on the Brownfield and DEQ grants with the goal of having a presentation for Council at a future meeting.
In other business, Council was told that the National Drug Take Back Day would be held October 24th with time and location to be announced. The Farmer’s Market was going well with the closing moved to 7:30 p.m. due to the change in daylight hours. The annual Town of Dublin Christmas Parade was scheduled for 11:00 am, Saturday December 5, 2026 with line up beginning at 10:00 am at the former Dublin Middle/High School.
The next scheduled meeting of the Dublin Town Council will be at 7:00 pm on Thursday, October 15, 2026 in the Council Chambers of the Dublin Town Hall located in the Dublin Town Center.