A group of Damascus residents danced and jumped up and down outside town hall as the sun began to set.
They were celebrating the town council’s decision to opt out of renewing its contract with Flock Safety, joining other Virginia localities that have cut ties with the tech company.
The town council voted unanimously Wednesday night to end its partnership with Flock, which provided three cameras to read license plates and log vehicle descriptions. The decision came despite the police chief and the mayor both saying the cameras were beneficial for the town as a cime-fighting tool.
The police department entered into the Flock contract in 2024, paying $10,450 the first year and $9,000 for another year after that. Since then, there’s been a national backlash against the company over concerns about surveillance, privacy and the protection of data. Federal courts have been debating the constitutionality of the government using its cameras and dozens of local officers across the country have been charged with improper use of the technology.
Council member Hunter Faust made the motion to cancel the contract.
“For the past month or two, it’s definitely been a hot topic in town,” Faust said in an interview after the vote. “We’re voted in by our community, so it’s our job to represent their voice as well as we can.”
The Damascus movement to take down the Flock cameras has been gaining momentum since the summer, with nearly 300 signatures on a petition calling for their removal. If all those who signed it are town residents, the petition accounts for more than a third of its population.
Residents of the small tourist town in Washington County have said they don’t trust a third-party company to track their vehicles and their data, fearing hidden facial recognition capabilities as well.
Ronald Daniels, a resident, told the council that he’s seen Flock’s news releases and social media campaigns saying the company will alter its technology to be more safe and ethical. He doesn’t believe it, he said.
“They’re fighting to save their business,” Daniels said during the public comment portion of the meeting. “They’ll tell us anything.”
About two dozen Virginia localities have “de-Flocked” since the summer, ending or significantly altering contracts with the company after the public outcry. Flock has partnered with thousands of law enforcement agencies across the country to provide public safety technology, from gunshot-detection cameras to first-responder drones.
Pat McCartin, who owns Wheeler’s Inn in town, has been a longtime opponent of the local police department’s use of the cameras. Wednesday’s vote has restored some of his faith in the direction Damascus is headed, he said in an interview.
“I am shocked and elated,” he said. “They came to the right decision for what Damascus needs as a tourist town.”
Damascus Police Chief Kermit Turner said after the vote that he’s disappointed to see the technology go.
Investigations will become more difficult when it comes to suspect vehicles, Turner said. He’s planning on asking for two additional officers so the town can have police on duty 24 hours a day, he said, and if they won’t give him two, he’s at least going to ask for one.
Currently, his department has four officers, including himself.
“You win some, you lose some,” Turner said. “We will still continue doing our job.”
He’s going to give Flock notice that the town will no longer pay the Atlanta-based company, he said. At that point, Flock will turn off the cameras, and Turner will likely cover them up with a trash bag to assure the public they are not in use, he said.
Mayor Katie Lamb, who doesn’t vote unless there’s a tie, said in an interview that she is also disappointed to lose the technology.
“I’m not happy for our chief,” she said.
Still, the council did what people asked of them, she said, which is what they were elected to do.
