DAYTON — Dozens of community members asked Dayton city leaders to get rid of their Flock camera program on Wednesday night.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, this comes after the Dayton Police Department announced its Flock camera program was indefinitely suspended due to a data-sharing investigation.
>>RELATED: ‘Disappointing;’ City of Dayton suspends Flock camera program amid data sharing investigation
It found that a network-sharing feature allowed more access to data than originally intended.
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One woman who grew up in Dayton said that when trust disappears, so does cooperation. People are worried about their city and community.
“I care deeply about the city. That is exactly why I’m speaking today. People want safety, but they also want dignity, fairness and respect,” Sharon Screetch, Dayton resident, said.
On Wednesday, over 20 people signed up to speak at the Dayton City Commission Meeting.
Many of them are asking city leaders to get rid of the Flock camera system entirely.
“The corruption and the disrespect of the community is absolutely outrageous in this city,” Zakiya Sankara-Jabar, co-founder of Racial Justice NOW!, said.
As previously reported, the Director of Strategic Services, Major Paul Saunders, was overseeing the Flock camera program at the time. He was allowed to resign or be fired.
The investigation found that a network-sharing feature was enabled, leading to 7,100 search requests citing immigration-related purposes from different law enforcement agencies.
The department found that Saunders failed to implement the safeguards he helped develop.
“The community was told information from those cameras would not be shared with outside law enforcement agencies, and later we learned that was not true,” Screetch said.
On the City of Dayton’s website, they added a fact and questions page that outlines the most up-to-date information on the program.
It says the program is still suspended.
Leaders are working to hire an independent company to conduct a full audit of the Flock camera program and its associated procedures.
It said the page was created to allow for more transparency and to help regain trust between residents and city departments.
“Many residents feel like they are constantly being watched, questioned, or treated as suspects instead of citizens. Over time, that fear turns into distrust,” Screetch said.
The city hasn’t directly addressed the request to get rid of the program entirely.
However, online, the city said commissioners will make a final decision on the program’s use once the audit is complete.
We will continue to follow this story.
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