Justin Musser, an IT administrator who said he works with the PRT for West Virginia University, urged the Monongalia County Commission on Dec. 3 to reconsider or pause funding for a proposed Flock AI camera system being pursued by the county sheriff’s department.

Musser told commissioners the system does more than read license plates: it “builds almost like a digital footprint of every vehicle” by recording vehicle type, color, make and model, he said, and he raised concerns that the platform shares information across jurisdictions and that Flock ‘‘retains 1% of their images for training their AI models.’’ He also said the company’s camera hardware runs Android Things 8.1, which he described as an outdated operating system that no longer receives security updates.

“I'm not very sure if you are aware,” Musser said, “... there are a lot of issues in terms of mass requests for the data from these cameras,” and he urged the commission to “redo the vote” or commission a cybersecurity review of the vendor before continuing. He said he had tried to reach Mark Ralston at the sheriff’s department for technical information but received insufficient detail.

Commissioners thanked Musser for bringing technical details and asked him to submit his concerns in writing so county IT staff could coordinate with Flock’s technical team. “We pressed on to the vendors before we ever started down this path, was who controls the information,” Speaker 2 said, adding the county must weigh privacy and safety and that officials would seek clearer answers from the vendor. Another commissioner said the county had already funded the first of three years of the program but agreed Musser’s questions needed answers.

Why it matters: The comments touch on data governance and vendor security for a law-enforcement surveillance system proposed for public roads, issues that can affect civil‑liberties protections and cross‑jurisdictional data access.

The commission did not take a new vote on the camera program during the meeting. Commissioners said they would follow up, request technical information from the vendor, and consider Musser’s written concerns.

Direct quotes in this article are taken from statements made during the public-comment period and the commission’s subsequent discussion at the Dec. 3, 2025 meeting.