Commander Dennis Severson of the Blue Island Police Department gave the council a demonstration of the department's camera and license-plate reader system (Flock), described how officers use alerts and searches, and acknowledged shortcomings in the city's reporting and auditing of the program.

Severson showed the operational difference between officer-facing alert screens and investigator search screens, explained that image data are retained for 30 days, and noted that investigators can export evidence that is then uploaded into case files. "Our officers on the street are trained. They would sit there and develop their own probable cause," Severson said, adding that administrators plan to require officers to associate a CAD or case number with searches to increase accountability.

City legal and administrative leaders told the council that a policy framework was discussed in 2022 but that required annual audits were not delivered in recent years. City Attorney Aaron Blake and members of the administration said they will complete the overdue reports and refine policy language. Blake summarized the legal posture: the 2022 agreement with the vendor was amended for renewal and Alderman-led policy proposals were discussed then, but audit reporting "fell off my radar," he said. He recommended producing the audit and revising the department's Lexipol-based policy to specifically address pole-mounted readers.

Council members and the chief asked for more enforced access controls, improved search-reason documentation (moving from free-text to a dropdown list of search reasons), mandatory logging tied to CAD numbers and monthly audits to identify anomalies. Commander Severson said those changes are being implemented and that misuse of the system can carry severe employment and certification consequences for officers.

The council did not adopt a new ordinance at the meeting; instead, staff were directed to provide the previously required annual audit reports, a revised policy for ALPR use that mirrors Lexipol guidance for pole-mounted systems, and monthly internal audits that link searches to CAD/case numbers.