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Carlisle council keeps Flock Safety agreement on the table after privacy concerns
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Summary
The borough delayed action on a proposed multi‑year agreement with Flock Safety (license‑plate reader vendor) and heard a resident urge more study of data storage, access and privacy risks before pursuing the system.
The Carlisle Borough Council left a previously tabled multi‑year agreement with Flock OS (Flock Safety) on the table at its March 12 meeting, delaying any vote on whether to adopt license‑plate reader and camera services proposed at an estimated cost of $45,750.
At the meeting, Mayor (introducing the item) said the technology could be a useful tool in investigating crime, including recent distribution of white‑supremacy flyers in the borough, but he urged the council to “fully vet and do so thoughtfully” and recommended keeping the item on the table until a future workshop.
During the new‑business public comment period, resident Ayanna Gutema of 155 E. North Street told councilors she was worried about where surveillance data would be stored, who could access it and whether the system could infringe constitutional privacy protections. “I think there are some unanswered questions about where this data resides, whether it's accessible to the wrong people, whether it's an invasion of our constitutional rights to privacy,” Gutema said, urging the council to study both financial costs and “the socio cost to our communities of opening ourselves up to be surveilled.”
Councilors did not vote on the Flock OS item; the mayor said the council would revisit the subject at a later workshop after additional vetting and discussion.
The council took no formal action to adopt the vendor agreement on March 12; the item remains tabled for future consideration.
