Bartlett allowing contract to expire for nearly half its Flock cameras

Bartlett officials will begin reducing their commitment to Flock automatic license plate readers on Tuesday by doing nothing.

The village board has dropped a proposal to renew seven of Bartlett’s 15 cameras from the agenda of Tuesday’s meeting. Village President Dan Gunsteen said Monday there wasn’t enough board support to keep the decision under consideration.

“We’re just going to let them expire,” he added.

The contracts already ended in late July but were the seven cameras’ operations were temporarily extended amid the village board’s deliberations.

An unresolved discussion in early August had centered on a proposal to renew those cameras and add five more for a total one-year cost of $65,500. During that meeting, 10 residents spoke out against the Flock cameras, which Bartlett had started using four years ago.

Police Chief Ryan Conway said the cameras had been effective in solving cases and hadn’t been used inappropriately, as demonstrated by regular audits.

Nevertheless, reports of officers misusing of Flock camera data in other suburbs such as Bloomingdale, West Chicago and Itasca have occurred in recent weeks.

In August, Conway issued a press release explaining the internal scrutiny of camera use data in Bartlett.

“The department is currently 100% compliant with its audits and established requirements governing the program’s appropriate use,” he wrote.

Gunsteen said the Bartlett Police Department’s use of the devices didn’t cause the board’s change of heart about the Flock cameras. He said it was a feeling that the Flock company has internal issues to resolve regarding safeguards.

“Our board has 110% faith in the Bartlett Police Department and how they operate,” he said. “We’ve been doing this auditing since the beginning. Shame on other communities that haven’t.”

Decisions on the eight remaining cameras, divided between two other contracts, will depend on what happens in the meantime, Gunsteen added.

Conway clarified that only five of the eight remaining cameras are in use. The village can use its discretion as to which seven cameras are now going away.

After defending Bartlett’s use of the technology, Conway was philosophical about the board’s decision.

“It is a tool,” he said of the cameras. “We’ve been doing policing for a long time and will continue to do our investigations.”

Funding for Bartlett’s cameras comes entirely from equitable sharing funds, which are the police department’s share of the value of cash, vehicles and property seized during its enforcement efforts against federal crimes.

epeterson@dailyherald.com