Flock cameras: Racine mayor votes to terminate contract, breaks tie
Racine mayor votes to end Flock contract
Racine voted to terminate its Flock contract in 30 days. FOX6 sat down with Mayor Cory Mason, who cast the deciding vote, for an exclusive interview.
RACINE, Wis. - The Racine Common Council voted on whether to keep Flock cameras until the end of this year or terminate the contract in 30 days. On Tuesday, Mayor Cory Mason broke a 7-7 tie – voting to end the contract in 30 days.
Mayor Cory Mason interview
What they're saying:
FOX6's Ben Hanson sat down with Mason for an exclusive interview to talk about the decision on Friday. Below is a partial transcription of their conversation, lightly edited for clarity.
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Decision to terminate
Hanson: What were the biggest parts that went into your decision to terminate the contract?
Mason: Great question. There's no doubt that having technology like this has helped in security issues. What we didn't realize, I don't think anybody realized, when we signed up with Flock, was how many opportunities there were for other people to be accessing that data in a way that we weren't really aware of, and I don't think most of our residents were aware of.
1-on-1: Racine mayor votes to terminate Flock
Racine voted to terminate its Flock contract in 30 days. FOX6 sat down with Mayor Cory Mason, who cast the deciding vote, for an exclusive interview.
Misuse concerns
Hanson: A big part of this public talk about Flock cameras has been misuse, law enforcement misuse. The Racine Police Department still has one officer that's being investigated. The Racine County Sheriff's Office had one that was suspended for 10 days. How much did that misuse component of Flock cameras go into your decision?
Mason: Allegedly, in terms of the misuse that was there, definitely something that should not continue. If it's just a function of what our police officers are doing, we have a very good Police and Fire Commission that holds officers accountable if they're misusing that. Those are commissioners that are appointed by me and approved by the council. But if Flock is misusing that information, if they're sharing that information with third parties that we're not even aware of, there's no recourse for it. There's no taking it back.
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Crime rates
Hanson: Chief (Alexander) Ramirez was saying that (Flock) has significantly helped with crime rates. With no cameras after 30 days, if there isn't a camera replacement, are you worried about those numbers going back up?
Mason: I will just say we managed to solve most of our serious crimes before 2022, before we had this technology, right? It is no doubt a helpful tool, but it is not the only reason that our crime rates have gone down. It's an important tool, it's a helpful tool, but we have to weigh it against people's freedoms and liberties at the same time.
What's next:
As the Flock cameras will be removed on October 15th, the Racine Police Department said they plan to look into other automated license plate readers and obtain quotes.
Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6's Ben Hanson and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.
The Source: Information in this story was gathered from Racine Common Council, Mayor Cory Mason, Ben Hanson, Racine Police Department, Racine Sheriff's Office, Chief Ramirez and FOX6 News.