New Bedford City Council meeting ends early from Flock camera chaos
The short version: A New Bedford City Council meeting on Flock cameras devolved into chaos and ended early, leaving the surveillance debate unresolved, WPRI reports.
Our Take
When a routine council meeting can't even survive a conversation about license plate readers, that tells you something about how contentious this technology has become. WPRI's report on New Bedford's meeting ending early amid "Flock camera chaos" is a small but telling sign that residents are showing up, pushing back, and refusing to let these surveillance expansions sail through on autopilot.
We don't know yet what specifically derailed the discussion, and we won't speculate. But the pattern is familiar: city officials want more cameras, residents want answers about data retention, access, and oversight, and when those answers aren't forthcoming, meetings get heated. Credit to WPRI for being in the room and documenting it. The fact that councilors "have yet to decide" when to revisit the topic suggests this fight is far from over.
If you're in New Bedford or anywhere else where Flock is being proposed or already installed, don't wait for the next contentious meeting to get informed. Check our camera map to see what's already tracking your streets, and visit our take-action page for tools to push your own city council toward transparency before the cameras go up, not after.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of WPRI, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.