Beverly Council Hears Opposition to Flock Cameras

Other Committee · Meeting of October 19, 2026

Beverly councilors heard more than an hour of public opposition to the city's Flock Safety license-plate camera contract, which expires in mid-November. Roughly fourteen residents urged the council not to renew, citing Fourth Amendment concerns, a Bishop Fox security audit that found nine vulnerabilities, and national misuse data from the Institute for Justice. The Beverly police chief defended the system, saying it helped solve a fatal Lynnway hit-and-run, a kidnapping case and an arson, and said only three officials, himself, Lieutenant Hatham and Detective Sergeant Shears, hold full audit access.

The city runs four cameras at $3,000 each annually and retains data for 30 days, even after Flock lowered its own default retention to seven days. Mayor Cahill said he could not confirm "whether Flock keeps it forever" after city deletion and pledged to follow up. No vote was taken; councilors said the renewal decision rests with the mayor as procurement officer.

In the full story:

• Background: A Second Round on Flock Cameras
• Public Comment: Residents Raise Fourth Amendment and Data-Security Concerns
• — Kelly Morrison, Ward 2 resident
• Police Department Response: Case Examples and Access Controls
• — Beverly Police Chief
• Charter-Mandated Questions: Cameras, Costs and Renewal
• Data Retention and the Unanswered Flock Question
• — Mayor Cahill
• Transparency Portal and Council Authority
• Procedural Outcome
• Implications and What Is Next
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,092 words

Source: the Other Committee meeting of October 19, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.