After five hours of public comment and a sharply divided debate, Woodstock's City Council on Friday voted 4-3 to lease Flock Safety cameras for the downtown Square, squeaking the measure through by a single vote. The decision capped months of argument over whether the technology, already used around town for license plate reads, belongs in the city's historic public space.
As reported by Daily Herald, Mayor Mike Turner joined council members Bob Seegers, Gregg Hanson and Tom Nierman in supporting the plan, while Natalie Ziemba, Melissa McMahon and Darrin Flynn voted no. Turner supplied the tie-breaking vote. Residents who spoke at the meeting raised alarms about privacy, data sharing and the speed of the decision, urging the council to pump the brakes.
What the contract says
Under the approved lease, the city will install six Flock cameras on a three-year term. The first year will cost about $21,800, with roughly $21,500 in years two and three. The council bolted on several conditions, including a 120-day opt-out clause, explicit bans on facial recognition and AI training uses, and a requirement that local officials review who gets access to the data. “I view them as a valuable tool,” Mayor Turner said, “like fingerprints,” according to the Daily Herald.
Costs and alternatives
Council members also weighed a competing offer from Modern Media Tech to buy eight cameras outright. Staff told the council the Flock lease looked cheaper in the short term, in part because a $9,000 Organized Retail Crime grant would help cover costs, according to Lake McHenry Scanner. Officials noted that Phase I cameras at Benton and Main are nearing completion and said the timing of the grant helped drive the push for a vote now.
Neighbors push back
Opponents warned that the cameras could chill turnout at events on the Square, subtly change the feel of downtown and open up thorny questions about who sees the footage and how long it is kept. Several residents told the council they would rather pour money into community policing and de-escalation training than expand surveillance, as reported by Northwest Herald.
Mayor and police defend the vote
After the vote, Mayor Turner appeared on “ChicagoLIVE” to defend the decision and walk through the added safeguards in the lease. Police Chief John Lieb told the council that license plate readers and video systems are treated as investigative tools that come with strict access controls, according to FOX 32 Chicago. Supporters argued the cameras can help gather evidence during crowded events without immediately locking the city into higher long-term patrol costs.
Broader scrutiny in Illinois
The Woodstock vote unfolds as Flock Safety faces statewide scrutiny. Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias has accused the company of giving federal agents access to Illinois license plate data; Flock responded by pausing some federal pilot programs and promising to tighten permissions, according to reporting by Shaw Local/Capitol News Illinois. Those concerns loomed over Woodstock’s debate and helped fuel the council’s push for contract limits.
With the lease now in place, the coming months will test whether the conditions, the opt-out window and the clearer data-access rules can keep the focus on public safety without eroding trust on the Square.
