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Resident criticizes Bay City Department of Public Safety posts about Flock Safety ankle monitors; commissioner raises use-of-resources concern
Summary
A public commenter said Bay City Department of Public Safety social media posts promoted Flock Safety ankle monitors and expressed privacy and misuse concerns; Commissioner Runberg told staff he was troubled by an implied call to action and warned against using public resources to advocate on pending contract matters.
A Bay City resident told the City Commission on Sept. 8 that social media posts by the Bay City Department of Public Safety (DPS) that referenced Flock Safety raised privacy concerns and appeared to urge residents to contact commissioners about a possible procurement.
Paul Colino said he had seen two posts from DPS that used Flock Safety marketing materials and that the posts included a call to action. Colino told the commission the posts stated the department was "seeking commission approval to purchase several thousand ankle monitors from Flock Safety," and he urged commissioners to oppose mandatory ankle tracking and to reassign the budgeted money to other priorities.
Colino criticized the company and the technology's potential for misuse, saying it "creates a system for abuse" and that public reaction on the posts’ comment threads was overwhelmingly negative. He told the commission he reviewed the Facebook comments and found 139 comments on one post "and there was not a single comment in favor."
Commissioner Runberg said he was troubled by the implied call to action in a DPS post and by the use of publicly funded infrastructure to encourage a position on an upcoming agenda item. "We shouldn't be using public resources to vote one way or another on any issue," Runberg said, adding that even noncash city resources such as social-media accounts should not be used to steer public action on pending municipal contracting matters.
Runberg also raised a related concern that some city staff feel they cannot contact their commissioner. He said city employees should not be discouraged from communicating with elected officials and encouraged staff and residents to reach out to their representatives.
No formal action or vote on Flock Safety procurement occurred during the Sept. 8 meeting; the item did not appear on the meeting's agenda as presented. The commission said it will continue public-safety discussions through other channels and noted plans for a Citizens Public Safety Academy and future subcommittee meetings to address public comments and questions.
