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Large public comment turnout urges Fort Wayne council not to renew Flock license-plate camera contract
Summary
Dozens of residents used the city’s public comment period to urge council not to renew the contract with Flock, citing privacy, Fourth Amendment concerns, potential misuse by law enforcement and third-party data retention; speakers also pressed council on data-center oversight and asked for investments in homelessness services instead of expanded surveillance.
Dozens of Fort Wayne residents urged City Council members on Wednesday to vote against renewing the city’s contract with Flock, the vendor that operates automated license-plate readers used by some law-enforcement agencies.
John Thompson, a resident of the 46804 ZIP code, opened the public comment period by asking the council to "vote against the maintenance and ongoing contract with flock," saying that AI-driven cameras sometimes misread plates and have led elsewhere to wrongful arrests and mistreatment.
"Do you want the support of a violation of privacy and liberty on your record when you could instead err on the side of caution?" Thompson asked.
Other speakers raised constitutional and legal concerns. Pam Lapsley cited a Supreme Court decision she said was issued on June 29, 2026 (she referred to "Chat Tree v. United States") and argued the court recognized government collection of digital location data can violate the Fourth Amendment. Lapsley and other commenters warned that Flock’s centralized, searchable records create surveillance risks and that private-company data retention increases the chance of misuse.
"The system does not require a warrant and just cause can easily be circumvented as police departments are discovering when they are tempted to misuse Flock," Lapsley said.
Speakers across the political spectrum — including representatives who said they were affiliated with Americans for Prosperity and others who identified as advocates for the unhoused — urged the council not to normalize routine government surveillance and instead invest in services addressing root causes of crime. Several commenters argued that policing alone does not prevent violence and called for an anchor resource center for people experiencing homelessness.
Some speakers also raised procurement and transparency concerns, citing contracts they said were signed without full council review and asking for clarity about a separate agreement between city utilities and a large data-center operator.
Council did not take a vote on the Flock contract at this meeting. The public comment period concluded without council response beyond listening; Council President Marty Bender closed the session and adjourned the committees.
Speakers who addressed the council included longtime residents, activists and community partners who repeatedly called for either nonrenewal of the Flock contract or explicit safeguards on use, data retention and third-party sharing.
