Trustees approve cybersecurity, mapping and camera renewals after staff outline August cyber incident and Flock upgrade

Chair opened discussion of requisitions for items exceeding $7,500 and Miss Brown outlined purchases including $20,000 to Miami Regionals (tuition support for student employees), $29,754 to Esri Inc. for GIS licensing, a firewall and endpoint protection renewal, prorated CAD interface licensing and purchases for dash cameras and Flock LPR upgrades. The board then heard a security briefing and a vendor presentation before approving the items.

Dennis, the township director who led the IT response, said the township experienced a cyber incident in August that took roughly 24 hours to begin bringing systems back online. "We did have a cyber incident, and our recovery and response from that was approximately 24 hours before we started bringing everything back online," Dennis said. He described measures taken: tightened firewall rules, geographic restrictions on remote access, elimination of unsupervised vendor access, deployment of endpoint protection and a phased rollout of multi-factor authentication. "We've basically eliminated all vendor access, which is very difficult to do," he said, noting the tradeoff between security and convenience.

A representative discussing the Flock LPR upgrade described operational uses and controls for the camera system. The presenter said West Chester operates about 41 fixed Flock units and two mobile units and cited examples where the system helped locate stolen property, identify suspects and reunite a missing Alzheimer’s patient with family. "Flock does not contain personal information," the speaker said, adding that law-enforcement databases must be queried separately to link identities and that retention is 30 days unless data is preserved for an investigation. The presenter described audit processes and stated access is tied to a legitimate investigatory purpose.

Trustees asked whether dash- and body-camera footage is used for discipline or training. A fire official said forward-facing dash cameras will record hard braking and sudden turns for training analysis and incident evidence, with the goal of tailoring driver training programs rather than routine punitive action. Trustee discussion also touched on balancing access and employee productivity while rolling out multi-factor authentication.

The board moved to approve items 4 through 9, encompassing the tuition support, GIS renewal, firewall/endpoint services, prorated CAD licensing, dash cameras and the Flock upgrade. The roll calls recorded 'yes' votes from Trustees Ortiz and Becker; the transcript did not record the chair's vote explicitly. Several trustees thanked staff for the IT improvements and noted the purchases were intended to reduce future operational risk.

The motion as described in the meeting packet will allow the township to renew and expand current services for cybersecurity and emergency response technology while instituting tighter access controls and auditability for surveillance queries.