Columbia City Council to hold public hearing on Flock cameras

Our Take

Credit to KMIZ ABC 17 News for flagging that Columbia's city council is putting Flock Safety cameras in front of the public before expanding or renewing the program. That's not how most of these deals go down. In town after town, police departments quietly sign multi-year contracts with Flock, cameras go up on utility poles, and residents find out only after the billing starts or after a data misuse story breaks. A real public hearing, with actual public comment on the record, is the exception, not the rule.

What matters here isn't just whether Columbia keeps its cameras — it's whether residents get real answers about who can query the data, how long it's retained, whether it's shared with ICE, federal agencies, or other jurisdictions through Flock's national network, and what happens when the system misreads a plate and sends an officer in with guns drawn over a false match. Those are the questions that tend to get glossed over in council packets that mostly cite crime-fighting anecdotes. A hearing is only useful if council members ask about audits, opt-outs, and oversight, not just budget renewal.

If you're in Columbia or anywhere else in Missouri, this is the moment to actually show up or submit comment — decisions like this get made in rooms with a handful of people in the audience. Check our camera map to see what's already deployed near you, and use our take-action page for tips on making public comment count before the vote, not after.