Council to take Flock license‑plate reader and park camera grant to public hearing after privacy debate

Glenarden City staff presented a resolution to accept a $40,000 grant from the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention to buy surveillance cameras and license‑plate recognition (LPR) equipment and services from Flock Safety. The council agreed to move the grant to a public hearing after detailed questions about privacy, oversight and placement.

Police Captain A. Robinson told the council the grant would fund three live surveillance cameras for parks and multiple stationary license‑plate readers at entry points; he said the devices help identify vehicles connected with car thefts and other crimes and that participating nearby jurisdictions already share LPR alerts. "These cameras will be live streaming and they also gonna have a mode called guardian," Robinson said, describing after‑hours alerts for park closures.

The presentation drew sharply contrasting reactions. Several council members, most vocally Councilman Donald Herring, expressed privacy and civil‑liberties concerns: "If you got my license plate, you got my personal data," Herring said, opposing constant tracking of vehicles entering and leaving the city. He also criticized the administration for not briefing the full council before applying for the grant.

Flock Safety representative Matthew Williams answered technical and legal questions, saying the system records an image of a vehicle and its plate — information that is public and not directly linked to a registered owner in Flock's database — that access to the database is audited, and that courts have generally found LPR use lawful. Williams also highlighted successes in recovering missing persons and stolen vehicles in other jurisdictions, saying the company has helped recover more than a thousand missing children in recent years.

Police and staff emphasized operational uses: the cameras would serve parks (Veterans Memorial Park, MLK Park, Seventh Street Park) and LPR cameras would be positioned at city entrances to notify officers when vehicles associated with crimes or alerts enter the city, assisting investigations and reducing response time.

Council direction and next steps: after extended discussion about placement, oversight, data retention, and community notice, the council voted to send the measure to a public hearing and asked staff to bring a corrected resolution and supporting exhibits. Several members requested that staff obtain a written policy describing permitted and prohibited uses, who will have access to the LPR data, retention periods, and auditing procedures before final approval.

What remains unresolved: specific camera locations and angles, final written policy for access and retention, and whether the council will require additional public engagement before voting in a regular session. Staff said no cameras or contracts would be signed until the council acts after the public hearing.