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Resident urges Noblesville to pause Flock Safety camera contract, cites constitutional concerns
Summary
A resident asked the Noblesville City Council to pause or reconsider its Flock Safety camera contract over privacy and Fourth Amendment concerns; council liaison and the mayor responded that staff and police would review the issue and noted the cameras have been used to solve crimes.
A Noblesville resident urged the City Council on Jan. 13 to pause or reconsider the city’s contract with Flock Safety, saying automated license-plate reader networks can replicate prolonged location tracking that raises Fourth Amendment concerns.
Keith, who identified himself as an eight-year U.S. Marine Corps veteran and a new Noblesville resident, told the council he was "here to urge the city council ... to consider ... constitutionality" and cited court decisions including Carpenter v. United States and United States v. Jones as legal context for concerns about sustained vehicle tracking. He said his FOIA request for access to Flock Safety records via the county sheriff’s office was denied and asked the council to consider a constitutional review and to pause or reconsider the city’s contract with the vendor.
"Flock's network replicates that capability," Keith said, arguing the technology enables vehicle-location monitoring over time and citing outside investigations alleging uses of ALPRs for mass surveillance and profiling. He also referenced news coverage of other jurisdictions that ended contracts following ethical concerns about company leadership.
The council’s police liaison said the matter would be taken back to the police department for review and highlighted recent operational results from the city’s camera use: "When we first got the cameras ... it was actually a pretty big win when we got them because we were able to ... find the license plates were people that were wanted from other places," the liaison said.
Mayor (unnamed at the meeting) offered to connect Keith with Police Chief Brad Arnold, who was present in the chamber, before the commenter left. The mayor said the city welcomes public comment and civic engagement.
No vote or formal directive to pause the contract was recorded during the meeting. The council liaison’s response and the mayor’s offer to link the resident with the police chief indicate staff and police will have an opportunity to review the concerns; the transcript does not record any decision or timeline for that review.
The issue raised in public comment—balancing privacy and surveillance technology against public-safety uses—remains unresolved as of the meeting. The council did not schedule a formal review or hearing on the contract during this session.
