Chandler City Council tables Flock camera decision at fiery meeting

Indiziert: 2026-05-22

[00:00:02]Do you have contracts with the federal government?

[00:00:04]Um, through the uh Mayor Council of Orlando, not that I'm aware of. Um, but I can look into that.

[00:00:12]Ladies and gentlemen, for those of you who lived in Chandler, you know, and I've been doing this for 26 years, you know we have a the quorum in this city.

[00:00:20]A fiery city council meeting tonight in Chandler. The council clashing with the public at times as leaders considered cutting ties with the company that runs controversial cameras there in the city.

[00:00:30]Our Chandler reporter Molly Hudson has been following this story all week and she joins us now live with the very latest here, Molly.

[00:00:40]That's right, Craig. Hours of heated conversation, uh public comment and questioning all about the future of Flock Safety license plate reader cameras in the city of Chandler. Up for a vote tonight, renewing an existing contract with Flock, the company behind 40 existing license plate reader reader cameras across the city of Chandler. But tonight we still don't have an answer. That's because after all of this heated conversation, there were some arguments between city council members that resulted in a recess and ultimately tabling this item until July 16th.

[00:01:14]Please remove your signs. After an initial pause to address signs brought to the meeting, the meeting continued.

[00:01:21]Council members pressed Chandler police and Flock Safety on the technology and how data is collected, stored, and protected, and who has access. Chandler Police Chief Brian Chapman reiterated that federal agents do not have access to Chandler data. We don't have uh sharing agreements with any federal entity. It is only through state and local people in the state of Arizona.

[00:01:43]But Chandler residents urged they don't want Flock cameras in their city. I avoid shopping at Lowe's and Home Depot.

[00:01:49]I avoid driving near the mall because I have no interest in feeding this data collection machine.

[00:01:54]And moreover, I didn't opt into this system of personal tracking. When you use services like Flock, they we get some information from them, but we give a lot of information to them. And I'm concerned that we become a data feed into a large unwarranted surveillance and data gathering system.

[00:02:12]While many community members agree they want safe neighborhoods, their concerns outweigh that. They say they don't want mass surveillance. They're worried about the misuse of data and privacy in the place they call home.

[00:02:27]And throughout public comment, we heard concerns about a Flock camera pointed at Galveston Elementary. We did learn later in the meeting from Police Chief Brian Chapman that they discovered that is a city Flock camera and that it has been on a list for removal over the last month. During tonight's meeting, we learned that camera has been taken down.

[00:02:47]In Chandler, Molly Hudson, ABC 15 Arizona.

[00:02:51]And diving deeper into Molly's story right now, Flock Safety says more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies use their technology. But the company has faced growing pushback outside of Chandler. As our ABC 15 investigators reported, Sedona, Flagstaff, and South Tucson canceled their contracts with Flock after residents expressed concerns over privacy, mass surveillance, and potential misuse. Tempe currently has Flock cameras, but back in March, the Tempe City Council voted to approve a 60-day trial of Axon's automated license plate readers. Axon's contract with Tempe specifies that data will not be shared with any outside group or person without specific approval.