Sunset Valley City Council

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I wish to end the surveillance contract in question. Thank uou

This is Lauren Petty at 9 Sunset Trail. I would like to support my fellow residents that are opposed to the City of Sunset Valley contracting with the Flock camera service. From the research I have done and that has also been presented by friends that I have who attended the public safety meeting, Flock corporation can not properly secure our information or be depended on to not compromise our information, Hacking is a giant concern as well and information has been presented this has previously occurred. I have great trust our in our Police Department, our Public Safety Staff and our City Council, but having a third party company jeopardizes our private information and our community and the very people that are set out to protect us. Please consider our concerns when renewing their contract and let’s see if we can find an alternative way that protects us from the danger Flock has presented in addition to making things work for those protecting us.

Respectfully,

Lauren and Phillip Petty
9 Sunset Trail

This is Mickie Powers from 23 Sunset Trail. I want to say that I am opposed to the City of Sunset Valley contracting with the flock camera service. From the research I’ve done and what has been presented at the public safety meeting, the corporation cannot be depended on to do the right thing with the information, nor does it seem that they can secure it properly from being hacked. I thoroughly trust our public safety staff, and the city Council, but it sounds as if there are things that could be out out of their control and jeopardize private information. If these cameras were available for our use totally inside the city I would have no objection. I do not know if there are other companies that can be researched as a possibility to provide this service, but this company does not seem worthy.








information either because of their own doing or because they might be hacked by others who have nefarious intentions. I thoroughly trust our police department and our council members. However, even in spite of their own diligence to do the right thing, it appears from what I have learned that the corporation running flock cannot guarantee the security of their system, nor can they guaranteed their intentions with regard to the materials that they might share outside of our community.

For item #11 Uplands
I am wondering if we should choose #3 just because the AISD property is in flux, and the current parking issues we having with AISD? I would love to see designs and schematics, but am unsure if its prudent just due to the school closing, until we know a little more. Otherwise I support #2 option.
Thanks
scott crow
Reese Dr.

Concerning Agenda Item #10

We do not support the renewal of the contract with Flock. As many other residents have already commented, there are too many concerns when it comes to the company's lackluster data security. The discussion should be had, however, about how we can best equip the Sunset Valley police department to continue serving the community so admirably. Thanks for your consideration.

Travis Avery and Paige Harden
16 Reese

Hello Mayor, City Council members and officers of SVPD

My wife Ann and I are writing to oppose the Flock cameras. From our reading on them in the media they seem like a typical silicon valley start up, flaunting the gray area of laws to make as much money, and dominant the markets (in this case, town, cities and communities information) as fast as they can with no regard or respect for law enforcement, peoples privacy or individual cities own wishes. They will sell the information to anyone.
Due to these media reports (and there are a lot of them) we worry about the information being used unscrupulously by corporations and agencies without SVPD's, our city, or individuals consent or knowledge.

I think our city does a very good job of community policing - way before the cameras ever appeared.
Chief and staff have done a great job of mitigating the retail issues, and residence safety.

I would like to see us look for alternatives to corporate surveillance where we have control of our information.
Flocks own reports of their 'successes' are not impressive, and I think we should weigh the human and ethical costs / benefits of having them in addition to the economics. We should join other Texas cities like Austin, Lockhart, and Hays County, and others across the country, in saying no, or at least a moratorium on their contract until we can assess citizens personal safety

We love living here because of the trust and support from our neighbors, city staff and the actual face to face community policing. All rare things in this day.
Thanks for listening
Ann Harkness
scott crow
Reese Dr.

Concerning Agenda Item #10.

While cameras might prove helpful to Sunset Valley’s police force, I am opposed to using the company known as “Flock” to provide the service. Theirs is more of a surveillance approach than a safety approach and I sense a privacy impingement.

As a concerned resident, I urge City Council to consider a different company to satisfy this policing need.

Thank you.

Sunset Valley resident

To the Mayor and City Council,
Concerning agenda item 11. Please, follow the recommendation of staff and postpone construction decisions for The Uplands until further information from AISD can be obtained.

Burton Pierson

Concerning Agenda item 10.

To the Mayor and City Council. It’s not that cameras might be helpful to police, it’s that flock is the wrong company to operate the cameras for Sunset Valley. This fact is well explained here.

https://youtu.be/hwbE5ks7dFg?si=UaKAQTMnOzznpqWQ(External link)

- Burton

I have been a resident of Sunset Valley for 40 years. Along with many other citizens I strongly oppose the use of Flock surveillance in our city. While I appreciate our police department, Flock and similar products is an unnecessary invasion of the privacy of our citizens. Patricia Murphy

as pertains to Flock, i do not support the renewal of the contract . i encourage the city council to find other ways to provide Proper and Safe Surveilance of Sunset Valley

i encourage the city council to pursue option number 2 in terms of developing
the Uplands.

I encourage Council to choose option 2 in terms of Uplands planning, That is : to instruct staff and Mend to include parking in the construction documents.
Although I think we need to be mindful about planning given the various changes at AISD, we also need to proceed with our own planning for the Uplands And create a viable Set of alternatives via development of the Uplands.

I don’t believe we should continue to contract with Flock. We need a surveillance system available to our excellent police department that the proper use and safe guards And protect citizens’ rights, and information assiduously.

Regarding Flock: To council members, I wish to indicate to you on behalf of Sandra and myself, our strong recommendation that you deny the renewal of the Flock contract.

I am very skeptical of any financial benefit to the city of Sunset Valley, and I don't believe that it could be realistically demonstrated. More importantly I think it is a serious error in judgment on behalf of the council to adopt security cameras in Sunset Valley. I'm highly dubious of any attempt to explain by Flock that they will use the data only for certain purposes or that it is monitored or that is controlled in any reasonable way.

Moreover, Sunset Valley cannot responsibly enter this contract without a significant amount of oversight on behalf of the city. To my knowledge, this has not been done and is not contemplated. Of course, this would be an additional cost and would require the retention of qualified individuals and the appropriate technology.

We live in a complex world. We're in a small city. This program is not something that we need to enter into, and should not do. In my mind it is symbolic, in that it shows how we may let technology run completely amok and with the potential of interfering with our daily life in ways we did not contemplate. Why should Sunset Valley do this when there is no necessity for it? I do not get it, and I urge the council strongly to deny the renewal of the Flock contract.

Respectfully yours,
Glen and Sandra Wilkerson
27 Sunset Trail

Sorry- last comment (baby with the bathwater) is Will Moncrieff, 24 Reese. I'm a first time caller and didn't know that names were not automatically added.

There seems to be consensus that we trust and support our police department. There are concerns about Flock in particular and what THEY, not SVPD, would do with the data they record on the cameras. Surely there is a way to keep our police equipped with all the tools they want to stop/prosecute crime, including cameras, while also keeping the data out of the hands of people our community doesn't trust. I try to never suggest work for others, so I will volunteer to find such a solution if needed. But let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

There are enough qualified concerns about the Flock video surveillance system that Sunset Valley should cancel the contract. However, I would like the Sunset Valley Police Department to have many tools available to them to keep us safe, if there are guard rails that prevent distribution of the information beyond the city. Interestingly, one of the observations of the Austin internal auditor that led to them dropping the service was that they didn’t have enough internal guidelines to stop abuse of the information.




Myles Fox
Pillow Road

I’m a huge fan of our Sunset Valley police. I’ve had nothing but great experiences with them and am grateful for their protection, kindness and dedication. I don’t want to deprive them of the tools they need to do their job, but I oppose the use of Flock’s cameras and systems. I understand it’s no small job to analyze the other available options but I encourage Sunset Valley to do so. Perhaps by now a very viable alternative is available.