PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Providence City Council spent Thursday night arguing over a draft ban on plate-reading cameras after residents pressed members about privacy, stalking risks and who can dig through the feeds.
Sponsors want Flock Safety units and lookalike gear barred citywide. Members talked it through at length but held no roll call, parking the file in committee instead of a floor vote.
City police already field roughly 60 Flock readers. Mayor Brett Smiley defends them as a tool that helps crack cases and says access rules already fence off the database. The current vendor deal lasts until mid-May 2027.
Councilor Sue AnderBois said plate logs from Providence have been opened millions of times, including by outfits that never signed formal share pacts with the Providence Police Department. She called wall-to-wall monitoring a civil-liberties problem, not a safety win.
State Rep. David Morales, running for mayor as a Democrat, said the Flock contract worries him. Republican hopeful Dave Talan said he would keep the network only if City Hall can prove outsider agencies are locked out.
Turnto10 coverage noted councilors are only introducing the ban idea for now, with no immediate vote, citing nationwide reports of plate-reader misuse. A company statement recalled Flock data aiding the Brown University shooting hunt and urged a balance of privacy rules and investigative tools.
Committee review comes next. Any ordinance would still need later readings before cameras come down or stay up under tighter rules.
Section: More Providence RI politics news