Three Flock cameras were damaged in Troy overnight, Troy city officials announced Friday.
“A small group of individuals continues to engage in acts of destruction that diminish the quality of life for everyone who calls Troy home,” Mayor Carmella Mantello and Police Chief Dan DeWolf said in a joint statement. “These acts do nothing to improve our community. Enough is enough.”
Mantello and DeWolf added that the police will “thoroughly investigate these crimes and pursue those responsible.”
The incident follows months of debate in Troy over the city's use of Flock cameras, which collect license plate and vehicle information of passing cars and compare it to other law enforcement databases.
Out of concerns for residents’ privacy, the Democratic-majority City Council tried to prevent the city from renewing its contract with Flock by ordering the city auditor to withhold funding. Mantello then declared a state of emergency to keep the funding going.
Mantello and the City Council are now embroiled in a lawsuit over the emergency declaration, and the City Council is considering legislation that would change the mayor’s ability to declare public emergencies.
Councilmember Nancy McKee is proposing a law that would force police to delete Flock data after 48 hours and only allow Flock cameras to compare license plates against lists of vehicles linked to criminal investigations. McKee has argued that maintaining data for longer than 48 hours could allow Troy residents to be tracked.
The Troy Police Department is conducting an audit of how the cameras are used. DeWolf told WAMC that the audit found the cameras to be “very useful” as a deterrent and investigative aid. City Council President Sue Steele told WAMC on Thursday that she and other council members had not yet seen results from the audit.
The city first installed the cameras more than five years ago and now has 26 throughout the city in undisclosed locations. The cameras cost the city $78,000 per year.
This is a developing story.
