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Residents press Downers Grove to end or not renew contract for Flock Safety cameras, cite privacy and security concerns
Summary
Multiple residents urged the village to remove or not renew contracts with Flock Safety cameras, citing security vulnerabilities and privacy risks; a council member cited Illinois law restricting biometric facial recognition and said staff will review configurations and the contract.
Residents raised privacy and security concerns about the village's automated camera system during public comment at the July 14 Downers Grove Village Council meeting, urging the council to remove installed Flock Safety Condor PTZ cameras and to avoid future contracts with the company.
"These automated license plate reader cameras... are specifically designed to use AI to track people's faces, to zoom in on them, to track their faces either automatically or manually," said Max Watkins, who urged the village to remove the Condor PTZ cameras installed on 75th Street and Butterfield Road and pointed to reported security vulnerabilities and high error rates in some systems.
Other public commenters reiterated concerns about surveillance, privacy and potential data-sharing with federal agencies; one speaker said such systems have been used to pursue neighbors and described community harms. Several speakers urged the council to let the village's contract with Flock Safety expire or to terminate it early, noting the contract reportedly expires in "the next six months or so."
A council member responding during public comment said Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act prohibits use of facial-geometry recognition, and stated the village's Flock cameras are configured for license-plate recognition only. "But know that this configuration and the settings are in the hands of the user," the council member said, adding that the village would "look into that appropriately."
No formal council action was taken on camera contracts during the meeting; the village approved its consent agenda and continued into other active-business items. Residents who urged review said they had provided materials and urged staff and councilmembers to consider nonrenewal or removal before the contract expiration.
The transcript includes multiple references to the vendor name in public comments; speakers alternately said "Flock" and one used the name "Glock" in passing. Council staff and council members should confirm contract terms, configuration details and compliance with Illinois law before any decision to terminate, renew or amend the contract.
