York council declines to advance SafeNet camera authorization after amendment fails amid privacy, legal concerns

Council members debated and ultimately did not advance Resolution 68, a measure authorizing York SafeNet to use municipal infrastructure for a public security camera network.

The measure, introduced as Resolution 68 by Councilwoman Aquina Washington, was moved and seconded for consideration. Councilwoman Betsy Buckingham then moved to amend the resolution to integrate operational and civil‑liberty safeguards including a cap of 55 city‑owned poles for the initial network, explicit municipal ownership of any city poles and rights‑of‑way used by the system, a formal access agreement with an initial term of up to five years, a prohibition on facial recognition and collection of unique biometric data, a retention limit for footage of no more than 30 days, and a publicly available log of all law‑enforcement footage requests. Buckingham also proposed establishing a citizen advisory board, with members recommended by the mayor and confirmed by council.

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