After a year of installations, Columbia’s Flock Safety surveillance system has seven devices left in construction planning. Columbia Police Department Assistant Chief Lance Bolinger oversees the system and said installation of each camera requires a multi-step process and communication between the city government and the Missouri Department of Transportation.
“Even though we are the government, we still have to go through a permitting process,” Bolinger said. “So, the same way that an individual would have to file reports and get permits to do construction, we have to do the same thing.”
The Flock automated license plate readers already installed have detected nearly 900,000 vehicles in the last month. Bolinger said about 139 CPD officers are trained to use this data for investigations, and federal agencies must request access to it on a case-by-case basis.
“The only way they could get access to the system is they would have to contact a Columbia police officer, and they would have to perform that search for them,” Bolinger said.
Federal and state agents can also access Columbia’s data through state intelligence banks, but Bolinger clarified they are not allowed to search it for immigration or reproductive care cases.
In February, CPD officers used Flock data to find a suspect in a ward one armed robbery. First Ward councilperson Valerie Carroll said this raised support for Flock among Columbia residents.
“At the same time, I'm sitting with all these extra questions about data generation, about usage of data, about who has access and how they're going to use it,” Carroll said.
Carroll said many of her constituents still fear Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will use the city’s Flock data to locate people. Independent media reporting has found that ICE and other agencies have access to Flock’s national database of cameras.
Carroll dissented in the October 2024 ordinance authorizing the city to sign a contract with Flock Safety. Carroll explained she was concerned about stalking and data abuse but is now unable to prioritize her questions on Flock because nothing related is up for vote.
"It seems like the rest of council and the rest of staff is generally satisfied with how that's going even sitting with all the concerns," Carroll said.
Carroll said future discussions on Flock database oversight could arise if Columbia passes the proposed 1% public safety tax increase. The tax increase would address staffing, equipment and building needs in the police and fire departments.
