Stillwater’s decision to install multiple Flock Safety license plate reader cameras around the city without soliciting citizen input was “anti-democratic,” a resident told Stillwater City Council members on Tuesday night.

“When it comes to something that has such a huge, massive impact on every single resident, business owner and visitor here, we need to be given the opportunity to weigh in on this,” said Morgan Byrne, a resident of Ward 3.

Byrne was one of 29 people who spoke during the open forum section of the Stillwater City Council meeting on Tuesday night. A standing-room-only crowd filled the council chamber, and the majority of speakers spoke against the use of Flock cameras in the city.

“The citizens of this town were not notified in any meaningful way that our leaders were considering a contract with Flock,” Byrne said. “Our elected officials did not hold a public hearing before entering into this license. We were not given the chance to debate what it would be for an entire town and its visitors to be 24/7/365 surveyed. We weren’t given the opportunity to talk about what that implies about our town’s values. We were not given the chance to answer the question of just how much privacy we were willing to give up for the sake of safety.”

Stillwater currently has 24 Flock cameras and 18 license-plate readers placed through the city. The license-plate readers, which are solar-powered, are meant to act as a crime deterrent; the readers are not being used for speed-limit enforcement, police say.

Collecting signatures

Ben Kula, who helped spearhead the turnout at the council meeting on Tuesday night, has been working for the past 10 weeks to get the city to cancel its contract with Flock. He has been hosting events at local parks to collect signatures from concerned citizens, and more than 500 residents have signed, he said.

“The diversity of people signing this petition is what has been really impressive to me,” Kula told the council. “We’re seeing people across age ranges, across genders, across races, and across the political spectrum. We have both candidates that are running for Minnesota House in District 33B sign this petition, and I’d be willing to bet if you asked the two of them, there’s probably not a lot that they can agree on. This is one thing that they’re both willing to put their name and sign to.”

Kula, 34, who works as a director for a financial services company, said he is especially concerned that a third-party company owns the data collected and the city lacks full control over its use.

Kula and others compiled a 12-page document on findings and concerns about Flock to share with the council. The document includes three “asks,” he said.

“First, is the city should move to terminate the contract with Flock as quickly as possible,” Kula said. “Second, the city should immediately cease using the cameras and either take them down or place bags over them … and, lastly, the city should not commit to enter into a contract with any other private company providing AI surveillance cameras.”

‘So much mistrust’

Mayor Ted Kozlowski said Wednesday that he is not sure how the city will proceed.

“Honestly, at this point, after our meeting last night, there’s so much mistrust at the federal government level, at the state level, at every level of government with some of these people with some of our community that I don’t know that we’ll ever be able to convince people otherwise,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s even possible to convince people that we’re not tracking your every move, we’re not spying in your bedroom window, we’re not building profiles of your children’s activities. I don’t know how to unpack all of that.”

Kozlowski said he is “confident” in Stillwater’s system and is personally not opposed to the use of Flock cameras.

“But if the community, ultimately, is not ready for that, then that’s the conversation we need to have, and I just honestly don’t know what the next steps would be at this point,” he said.

More education with the community around what the Flock cameras “actually do and do not do” is needed, Kozlowski said.

“Once we can have that conversation that’s based in reality, then I think the council needs to make a decision on are these tools that we need to keep our community safe?” he said. “Or are we willing to sacrifice some really good tools to make the public feel more comfortable?”

Kozlowski said he doesn’t want people to lose trust in local government or police, but he also does not want “to make a decision that impacts the public safety of our community because a bunch of people are afraid of something that isn’t real.”

The City Council approved the latest contract in March. Stillwater pays Flock $139,800 a year for the service, which includes 30-day data retention and no facial recognition, said City Administrator Joe Kohlmann.

“We are always looking for ways to improve our services and our elected officials, staff and the community will work collectively to find a pathway forward,” Kohlmann said.