Southold councilwoman asks town to remove Flock cameras

A Southold councilwoman is urging her colleagues to end the town’s agreement with Flock Safety amid mounting privacy and data collection concerns and a string of vandalism incidents this summer.

Alexa Suess introduced the idea during a town work session on Wednesday, laying out sharp criticism of the company that has deployed more than 700 automated license plate reader cameras on Long Island and come under scrutiny for surveillance and civil liberties concerns.

“We should reconsider our relationship with Flock, or at least commit to not renewing a contract,” Suess told fellow board members Wednesday.

The discussion comes as the town board prepares to meet later this month with the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department during a public work session. The department operates eight of the 11 Flock cameras in Southold Town.

In January 2025, Southold approved a four-year contract with Flock totaling $37,152 for its three cameras, according to town records.

Suess said while the town police department has used Flock for “very good reasons,” she has concerns over data collection, sharing and Flock’s encryption practices.

“Data is the most valuable resource in our country’s technology-driven economy,” Suess said at Wednesday’s meeting, adding it can reveal where residents work, worship, seek medical care and other sensitive information.

Southold Supervisor Al Krupski urged residents to email the town board with Flock-related questions they would like to see addressed at the Nov. 17 meeting.

In an interview, Southold Town Police Chief Steve Grattan defended the cameras. He told Newsday that they have been a valuable tool for the department and he would advocate for their continued use.

“We have a lot of success stories,” he said.

Paris Lewbel, a public relations manager for Flock, said in an email that the company "does not sell data. Customers own 100% of the data from their cameras and control their own sharing settings. All data is stored securely using industry-leading encryption standards, including AES-256, and is automatically deleted after the agency's set retention period."

Chief backs cameras

In July, cameras in Greenport and Peconic were found having ripped out wires, splashed with paint, turned away from traffic and struck by a vehicle.

Three more incidents in Greenport were reported in October, including cameras found with plastic bags and tape over camera lenses and cut wires, according to police reports.

No arrests have been made and police continue to investigate the vandalism, Grattan said.

The cameras have logged over 500 “hits” for suspended registrations and have helped locate stolen vehicles and missing people, including a 79-year-old woman with dementia from Orient who went missing in late March.

The woman, who was en route to a Greenport hospital, was found more than 300 miles away in Maryland after driving for nearly 24 hours, Newsday reported at the time.

Grattan said the cameras are not used for surveillance and noted they do not capture live video feeds, do not use facial recognition and aren’t used to monitor daily activities of residents. He said the department does not share information with federal agencies.

“We have that toggled off, so nobody can search our cameras for any immigration-related matter. Nobody can search our cameras for any reproductive-related matters either, for the abortion laws,” the chief said.

Suffolk County has delayed implementing a $4 million contract with Flock to use the company’s gunshot detecting technology. At a hearing before the legislature last month, company representatives defended their license plate readers as an important law enforcement tool that complies with federal laws, Newsday recently reported.

'A lot of angst'

Southold board members did not take action Wednesday, though other council members voiced similar concerns.

“The positive things about it are very positive, and you don’t want to lose them, but I think the negatives are starting to outweigh the positives,” Jill Doherty, the sole Republican on the six member board, said during the meeting.

Suess, in an interview, acknowledged that the town does not have jurisdiction to remove the county cameras, but is hoping to open a dialogue with the sheriff’s office.

She said the public backlash and vandalism incidents are indicative of broader unease about the technology.

“It’s the sentiment of AI and how that is going to shape the landscape … it’s a proxy for a lot of angst within our community and the national discussion,” she said in an interview.

A spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office said it will send a representative to attend the Southold meeting on Nov. 17.