Yes, There Will Still Be Flock Cameras In Manhattan—Just Fewer

MANHATTAN, IL — There will be fewer Flock cameras in Manhattan, but there will still be some, Village officials have clarified for residents.

In a brief statement at the tail-end of the Oct. 6 Village Board meeting, Mayor Mike Adrieansen stated they wouldn't renew the contract for some of the Flock cameras in the Village—but others will remain for the timebeing.

The ones being removed were funded through a Will County Opiod grant, Manhattan Police Chief Ryan Gulli said, and have not proven cost-effective for the Village.

Those cameras are located at Eastern Avenue and Baker Road, Baker Road & William Drive, and Cedar and Smith roads. To extend use of those specific cameras, Gulli said it would cost the Village $9,000 of its $47,000 grant from the county.

Four other cameras in place in Manhattan will remain active until at least their contract's November 2027 expiration, at which point the Village will evaluate next steps.

"The Village has decided not to renew the contract that expires in November," Adrieansen said, of the contract on the cameras secured using the grant funds. "This was not a decision made lightly and it was not based on just a few residents coming to the board meeting and speaking out.

"We looked at the results, the effectiveness and the additional cameras, the data and the overall cost benefit to the village. There are also a lot of questions and concerns about flock technology being raised across the state and the country, and I believe many of those issues will eventually be addressed by state and federal officials.

"... So we're kind of not just going to rush into anything. This does not mean that we're turning our backs on our police department or public safety. It still remains our top priority. We'll continue to give our officers tools they need to keep Manhattan safe."

Flock LPR cameras capture license plates and vehicle characteristics, "creating objective, searchable evidence that helps investigators identify leads and connect related incidents," the company touts.

The decision not to renew the contracts for the specific few cameras was not an action item for the board, negating any need for a formal vote. Gulli said at the Oct. 6 meeting that "there's a lot of moving pieces" with the cameras on a broader scope.

"As you've seen, Will County's trying to change their ordinance that they passed for us, and different legislation being passed," he said. "So every day it's something different. So, we're kind of keeping an eye on that as well."

The decision to have those few cameras removed reduces the number in Manhattan from 15, to four, Adrieansen said.

"It doesn't make sense to have that many," Adrieansen said, of having 15. "I think the police chief had advised us that the the four that we have original are number one, most valuable cost-benefit analysis."

Adrieansen said the board will re-evaluate the contract on the four original Flock cameras when the November 2027 expiration date nears.

"But by then, hopefully there's going to be a lot more safeguards put into place nationally and at the state level, that we can make a different decision maybe," Adrieansen said at the meeting.

The four original Flock cameras are positioned at US 52 & Kathryn Avenue, US 52 and Gougar Road, Manhattan-Monee and Brynn Drive, and Cedar Road and Rose Street.

"This decision reflects our responsibility to continually evaluate the technology we use, its value to our residents, and how we best allocate taxpayer dollars," Adrieansen said in a statement to Patch this week. "We appreciate the role these cameras have played in assisting law enforcement and will continue to prioritize public safety while making decisions in the best interest of our community."

Usefulness to PD

Gulli has spoken in the past about the effectiveness of Flock cameras in addressing crime locally.

"There's still a usefulness to it," Gulli told Patch.

One Flock camera, Gulli said, was instrumental in locating a suspect in a shots-fired call in June. In that incident, police were called to a subdivision around 10:30 p.m. for a report of gunshots. During the investigation and while speaking with witnesses, officers found 16 spent shell casings in the street. No one was struck by the gunfire, police said.

Using images from Ring doorbell footage, police then checked for Flock camera images in the area and found a dark SUV matching the vehicle seen in prior footage. Police checked the license plate, identifying and contacting the owner, whose son police learned had been using the car at the time.

Police determined that Aiden Valera, 18, had fired multiple rounds from the SUV as he rode as a backseat passenger with his friends as they left the subdivision. Valera does not have a FOID card or Illinois Concealed Carry License and was later charged with felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and reckless discharge of a firearm.

In another use of a Flock camera, images helped disprove a report of an abduction attempt, Gulli said. In that incident, a child reportedly used a pen to stab a man who had grabbed him by the arm. The child said they had just gotten off their school bus and were playing outside when an unidentified man approached them and grabbed one of the children by the right arm. The report stated that the child then used the pen to stab the suspect in his left arm before the man left.

Police reviewed Flock footage and canvassed the neighborhood, later determining the report had been entirely fabricated.

In another incident, Gulli said police were able to stop a car reported as wanted from another area. Officers recovered an illegal gun from inside, he said.

Reports of Misuse

The company has seen pushback in other Illinois suburbs, with allegations of police misuse. In Joliet, longtime Joliet Police Department lieutenant Jeremy Harrison was fired in December over allegations he misused the system to track the location of a female officer. Harrison has since been charged with two felonies.

Other reports of misuse have also surfaced, including use in immigration enforcement efforts. In that instance, a federal U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent is accused of using a Palos Heights police officer’s password to perform unauthorized searches in the Flock database, according to the investigative publication Unraveled Press.

Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley in August apologized for occurrences where the company's data was misused by law enforcement officers and discussed changes the company is implementing, CBS reported. Langley went on to defend his company and the service it provides law enforcement agencies with its network of 120,000 cameras around the country, CBS reported.

"It gets to this issue that when you are given power, which many people are, particularly in law enforcement, you should have higher standards of accountability," Langley told CBS. "And so, I don't think that Flock created police abuse. I think we're the first company to ever shine a light on it and build the tools to find it."

One of the changes, the company said, cuts default data retention from 30 days to seven, "making misuse detection mandatory for every customer, and inviting the rest of the industry to meet the same standard," the company said.

It also rolled out "Evidence Mode," for instances where detectives can preserve specific ALPR data as evidence for an active investigation in cold storage, consistent with existing laws and policies.