Resident urges New Prague to publish Flock search logs; police to present audits in March

Brian Paulson, a New Prague resident, urged the council to direct the police department to enable Flock’s public search‑audit feature on the department’s transparency portal so residents can verify how search requests are used.

"Enabling the public search audit would ease public concerns and clearly demonstrate that the department is operating fully within the statute's strict standard," Paulson said during the public forum, adding that his recent records request for auto logs was delayed and required follow‑up.

Council members asked the police chief for detail. Chief Aplin said he was not prepared that night to present the operational specifics and that the department has scheduled audits of both Flock and Axon for March, with results to be presented after those audits are completed. The chief said he emailed Paulson on Jan. 26 to say the requested information was available for viewing.

Why it matters: access to search logs affects transparency and public trust in automated license‑plate systems. Council members debated whether release should be handled by the chief or require a council-level decision; one council member noted a prior local lawsuit over staff accessing private data and said city controls and procedures should prevent abuse.

Next step: Chief Aplin and staff will present Flock and Axon audit results to the council in March; residents with outstanding data requests can be referred to the city’s data‑request process in the meantime.