Norton council approves Flock Falcon camera purchase after public privacy concerns; amendment removes emergency effective date

The Norton City Council on Dec. 2 voted to adopt an amended ordinance authorizing the Police Department to acquire Flock Falcon cameras, approving the purchase at a cost not to exceed $63,250 after public comment and debate over privacy, data retention and local control.

A resident, Susan Prbonic, used her allotted public-comment time to press the council for details about camera ownership, placement, data access, third-party use and long-term custody of images. She asked how many cameras would be used, where they would be located, whether the cameras were owned or leased, how long footage would be retained, who could view footage and what would happen if the vendor was acquired by a third party.

In response, the Police Chief said the city would own the cameras and the city would own the data. He said the system would retain images for 30 days and purge them unless the department placed…