16 October 2026
Dutchess Votes to Cover Flock Cameras Data centers In other business….
Highlands Current Audio Stories
About
Also supports state moratorium on data centers
Nearly three weeks after the Dutchess district attorney and sheriff announced that the county should remove every Flock license plate reader, the Legislature on Tuesday (Oct. 13) unanimously directed that any camera still installed on Nov. 1 be covered "with opaque, non-damaging material."
Using artificial intelligence, the Flock system analyzes photos of passing vehicles, records their plate numbers and categorizes them by make and model, color and any damage. Law-enforcement agencies can search the system's database to locate stolen vehicles, criminal suspects and missing persons.
The resolution applies only to 65 cameras the county owns; 372 others are on private land or roads controlled by the state and municipalities, such as Beacon, which has seven. (Putnam County owns 48 license-plate readers, including three in Philipstown, but they are not tied to the Flock network.)
On Thursday, County Executive Sue Serino said she would allow the bill to become law without her signature because "the proper steps to remove these cameras are already underway." She said that the county attorney had issued a "demand notice" on Sept. 30 telling Flock to remove its hardware by Oct. 30.
For that reason, she said in a statement, "This resolution unnecessarily exposes the county to potential liability resulting from equipment damage or other issues that could occur during removal. The district attorney, after consultation with the county attorney, advised the Legislature of this liability prior the resolution's consideration."
During the 30 days before Oct. 14, Dutchess-owned cameras recorded the plates of 435,928 vehicles, with 41,320 "hits" for alerts sent by the National Crime Information Center, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and New York State for suspended vehicle tags. Officers at the Real-Time Crime Center made 87 searches.
Although law enforcement officials in the Hudson Valley have praised the license-plate readers, Flock Safety has come under increasing scrutiny nationwide as reports have surfaced about police using the network to stalk former romantic partners and federal agencies gaining access to the data without the knowledge of local jurisdictions, such as for immigration enforcement.
Even a resolution to remove the cameras hasn't always made them go away. When officials in Verona, Wisconsin, canceled a contract with Flock, the company left the cameras up, forcing the city to cover them. After officials in Evanston, Illinois, terminated a contract with Flock in 2025 and removed the cameras, the company reinstalled them, according to news reports.
At the Dutchess Legislature's Oct. 13 meeting, Brendan Lawler, a Democrat who represents Hyde Park, noted that police in Florida recently found 14 unauthorized Flock cameras in St. Lucie County, including three installed by the Sheriff's Office. It wasn't clear who was responsible for the other 11 or had their data.
"The conversation around Flock is a balancing act between privacy and safety," said Legislator Chris Drago, a Democrat who represents Red Hook. "And the reality is that no one feels safe in a surveillance state."
Lisa Kaul, a Democrat who represents Poughkeepsie and is running for the state Senate district that includes Beacon and Philipstown, said: "While there are legitimate uses for appropriate technology to investigate crimes and protect our communities, that cannot become an excuse to create a surveillance state. Cloud-based surveillance technology raises serious questions about who can access our information, how long it is retained, where it can be shared and how it can be used."
On Sept. 23, Legislator Eric Andrews, a Democrat who represents the Town of Washington and chairs the Public Safety Committee, hosted a forum in Pleasant Valley where 30 residents spoke out against the technology. Two days later, Sheriff Kirk Imperati and District Attorney Anthony Parisi said they no longer supported t...
Nearly three weeks after the Dutchess district attorney and sheriff announced that the county should remove every Flock license plate reader, the Legislature on Tuesday (Oct. 13) unanimously directed that any camera still installed on Nov. 1 be covered "with opaque, non-damaging material."
Using artificial intelligence, the Flock system analyzes photos of passing vehicles, records their plate numbers and categorizes them by make and model, color and any damage. Law-enforcement agencies can search the system's database to locate stolen vehicles, criminal suspects and missing persons.
The resolution applies only to 65 cameras the county owns; 372 others are on private land or roads controlled by the state and municipalities, such as Beacon, which has seven. (Putnam County owns 48 license-plate readers, including three in Philipstown, but they are not tied to the Flock network.)
On Thursday, County Executive Sue Serino said she would allow the bill to become law without her signature because "the proper steps to remove these cameras are already underway." She said that the county attorney had issued a "demand notice" on Sept. 30 telling Flock to remove its hardware by Oct. 30.
For that reason, she said in a statement, "This resolution unnecessarily exposes the county to potential liability resulting from equipment damage or other issues that could occur during removal. The district attorney, after consultation with the county attorney, advised the Legislature of this liability prior the resolution's consideration."
During the 30 days before Oct. 14, Dutchess-owned cameras recorded the plates of 435,928 vehicles, with 41,320 "hits" for alerts sent by the National Crime Information Center, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and New York State for suspended vehicle tags. Officers at the Real-Time Crime Center made 87 searches.
Although law enforcement officials in the Hudson Valley have praised the license-plate readers, Flock Safety has come under increasing scrutiny nationwide as reports have surfaced about police using the network to stalk former romantic partners and federal agencies gaining access to the data without the knowledge of local jurisdictions, such as for immigration enforcement.
Even a resolution to remove the cameras hasn't always made them go away. When officials in Verona, Wisconsin, canceled a contract with Flock, the company left the cameras up, forcing the city to cover them. After officials in Evanston, Illinois, terminated a contract with Flock in 2025 and removed the cameras, the company reinstalled them, according to news reports.
At the Dutchess Legislature's Oct. 13 meeting, Brendan Lawler, a Democrat who represents Hyde Park, noted that police in Florida recently found 14 unauthorized Flock cameras in St. Lucie County, including three installed by the Sheriff's Office. It wasn't clear who was responsible for the other 11 or had their data.
"The conversation around Flock is a balancing act between privacy and safety," said Legislator Chris Drago, a Democrat who represents Red Hook. "And the reality is that no one feels safe in a surveillance state."
Lisa Kaul, a Democrat who represents Poughkeepsie and is running for the state Senate district that includes Beacon and Philipstown, said: "While there are legitimate uses for appropriate technology to investigate crimes and protect our communities, that cannot become an excuse to create a surveillance state. Cloud-based surveillance technology raises serious questions about who can access our information, how long it is retained, where it can be shared and how it can be used."
On Sept. 23, Legislator Eric Andrews, a Democrat who represents the Town of Washington and chairs the Public Safety Committee, hosted a forum in Pleasant Valley where 30 residents spoke out against the technology. Two days later, Sheriff Kirk Imperati and District Attorney Anthony Parisi said they no longer supported t...