VINEYARD, Utah — Vineyard’s city council unanimously approved a resolution to oust Flock cameras from their community after locals raised concerns about the surveillance technology and their own privacy.
It was just a few months ago that Vineyard local Jacob Schooley said he took notice of the cameras popping up around the various roads that offer entry and exit into and out of the city.
Schooley’s concerns largely lie in where all this data ultimately ends up being collected and stored.
“That controversy kind of came to my attention a few months ago,” said Schooley. “I had seen that other cities were able to successfully get rid of them, and so I figured if they can do it there, why can’t we do it here?”
He then brought the idea to Vineyard council member Jacob Wood.
“He downloaded this app that tracks Flock and he was like, ‘Did you know it’s in Vineyard?’” Wood said of his conversations with Schooley.
Wood said many constituents were as surprised as he was.
“They just don’t want to be surveilled, and I think the brand Flock has lost a lot of public trust,” said Wood.
So he worked with the county sheriff’s office and the ACLU of Utah to learn more about the issue and bring forth a resolution that passed unanimously.
“At the end of the day, we work for the residents," Wood said. "And the residents didn’t want Flock in Vineyard."
It’s now at least the third Utah locality to back out of using this technology, after Tremonton-Garland police and the city of Washington Terrace made similar moves this summer.
But if you drive around Vineyard, you’ll find the cameras aren’t coming down yet. Wood said that’s because the company’s agreement is in place with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.
“The resolution just basically says that they need to look at the contract and at the earliest date possible, they need to cancel it,” said Wood.
The sheriff’s office tells me they are now beginning to work with the vendor, the city and its legal team to determine what it will contractually require to comply with the vote.
So it should be a matter of when, not if — an outcome that Schooley is grateful for.
“I also think that it can be a model for other cities in the area to remove their Flock cameras and either switch to a different system or get rid of the tracking altogether,” Schooley said.
FOX 13 News reached out to Flock for comment from the company on this decision. We have not yet heard back.