Minot council tables Flock license-plate reader contract pending formal policy

The Minot City Council on April 7 tabled consideration of a master services agreement (MSA) with Flock Safety for license-plate reader (LPR) services after a lengthy public and council debate about civil liberties and oversight.

The council meeting opened with a motion to approve the MSA; the item drew extended discussion from council members, the police chief, the city manager and a Flock representative, who described how the cameras capture still images of rear vehicle plates, generate hot-list alerts (including NCIC and missing-children feeds) and retain data for 30 days. Kristen McLeod of Flock Safety said the company “automatically deletes data at the 30 day mark” and that the vendor provides a public-facing “transparency portal” and audit tools.

Chief Kelly told council the department sees LPR as a “force multiplier” that could provide investigative leads in missing-person and serious-crime cases, and he emphasized the need for strict departmental policy and external audit to protect civil liberties. “We need to have a robust policy that protects those civil liberties,” the chief said, adding the city could require supervisor approval for queries and set offense thresholds for when searches are allowed.

Council members expressed deep concern about surveillance, data use and potential misuse by individual officers. Alderman Paul Fuller said he was “hard to get to yes” even with safeguards; Alderman Rob Blessum cited national cases of misuse and urged an audit system that reviews every search. Several members said they would support the technology only after the council approves a policy explicitly limiting uses and providing transparency.

Alderman Fuller offered, and the council approved, an amendment making the MSA conditional on council approval of an acceptable policy; the amendment passed 4–2 (dissents: Alderman Blessum and Alderman Fuller). Later, Alderman Aldrin Pittner moved to table the item until a policy returns to council; that motion passed 5–1 (dissent: Alderman Samuelson). As a result the MSA was not implemented and staff was directed to return with a policy for council review before any system activation.

The council and the public also discussed technical and operational questions: whether mobile cameras (Axon-mounted) could be integrated (Chief Kelly said integration is optional), what data retention and encryption standards would apply (Flock said images are end-to-end encrypted and stored on AWS), and whether small or remote communities already use LPR (Fargo operates an LPR system; Bismarck uses a different system). City staff said the 2025 budget contains a rental line-item that could fund LPR hardware and services but cautioned that tabling could affect pricing and timing.

The council’s action leaves the MSA unsigned and instructs staff to prepare a draft policy addressing acceptable uses, required approvals, audit cadence, public transparency and any integration with vehicle-mounted cameras. Chief Kelly said he would ask the department’s policy working group to draft a stringent policy and would aim to present it within about a month for council review.