Cave Creek council to look at new Flock camera policy

By Jeff Wendt
Mail

The Cave Creek Town Council will look into creating a policy of how the video footage from Flock cameras are used and how long the data is kept available to them at its regular meeting on Tuesday night.

At the Town Council Retreat in February, staff presented information regarding the license plate camera reader system currently in use by the Town of Cave Creek.

While the system has proven to be a useful tool for law enforcement nationwide, there have been privacy concerns reported by local and national media.

Bill Sims, Cave Creek’s Town Attorney, has examined other towns’ policies to see if Cave Creek can develop a similar policy.

Sims will address the provisions of the agreement with Flock on the data collected, how long the data is maintained, who has access to the data, and other related data and operational matters.

Sims found a policy from the city of Safford as a possible solution to Cave Creek. Sims will present the policy to the council for consideration and input in creating Cave Creek’s policy, and adopting it at a future meeting.

The council will also receive a recap of Bike Week activities that recently ended on April 12, and  will hear a presentation from its communications and public affairs department.

Jeff Wendt
Reporter | Phoenix/Cave Creek

jwendt@iniusa.org

Meet Jeff
Jeff Wendt started at Independent Newsmedia in January 2023, after 25 years working for Gannett and The Arizona Republic. Started as a high school sports scoretaker, worked up to reporting high school sports and then became an associate high school sports editor in 2002. Also worked in the Design Studio as a copy editor.

Community: Jeff serves on the Board of Elders at his local church.

Education: Arizona State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication

Random fact: Attended Game 2 of the 2001 World Series.

Hobbies: Playing video games (yes still the kid in me), watching reality TV, playing poker.