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Stoughton cancels Flock camera contract as Quincy weighs the future of their cameras

Several residents opposed the cameras, but Quincy’s police chief defended them, saying they are an important investigative tool and that restrictions govern how they are used.

The council did not make a decision Tuesday night about the future of the Flock cameras.

The issue was tabled for further consideration, and the council said there will be more opportunities for residents to voice their opinions.

The meeting comes as Stoughton also held a meeting Tuesday night on the Flock cameras in town and decided to cancel their contract.

The acting police chief said all equipment must be moved by Oct. 1.

Bags will be placed on the controversial cameras starting on Wednesday.

New Bedford recently paused its use of Flock after a city police officer was put on leave and accused of using the department's Flock camera system to track her ex-girlfriend. Lynn said two of its police officers were placed on paid administrative leave after an audit identified a "concerning pattern in some searches" conducted using the department’s license plate reader technology.

Salem officials credited the readers with helping solve several cases, including the bombing of the Satanic Temple, but said they planned to seek an alternative vendor with different data privacy rules.

Flock Safety did not respond to a request for comment.

A post earlier this month from the company's CEO, Garrett Langley, announced new measures to strengthen privacy, accountability and security.

Those measures include requiring customers to use an auditing tool to flag abnormal search behavior, retaining license plate information for a week instead of a month, and giving cities and towns more control over data-sharing with other agencies.