Residents in Huntington angered over their city council’s approval of a $2.1 million contract with Flock Safety to install license plate readers, cameras and more throughout the city are organizing a weekend-long canvassing campaign later this month to collect the signatures for their ballot initiative petition.

The residents, led by Huntington Community Action Group, a local chapter of the West Virginia Citizen Action Group, will spread across all nine of Huntington’s city council districts this Saturday and Sunday as part of their “Rolling Rally.” Organizers will be present at several of the city’s “busiest weekend gathering places,” including 9th Street Live, the Ritter Park Small Business Market and Central United Methodist Church to collect signatures from residents who want to vote on whether mass-surveillance tools should be utilized.

“We’ve had such an overwhelmingly supportive response to our petition that we’ve decided to take copies to every district across city in these two days,” said Katie Norman, a volunteer with Huntington CAG, in a news release. “People are realizing that their city government isn’t going to fix this mess and are excited to be part of the solution.”

According to the Huntington city charter, a petition for a ballot initiative must be signed by at least 10% of the number of voters who were registered during the last municipal election. That would mean about 2,000 valid signatures must be collected in Huntington for the petition to be considered. Per a news release from the West Virginia arm of the American Civil Liberties Union, organizers in Huntington are planning to collect twice as many signatures as needed. If enough signatures are verified, the city will hold an election for residents to vote on the initiative.

Huntington CAG launched its “Get the Flock Out” ballot initiative at a rally earlier this month. The group wants to pass an ordinance prohibiting mass surveillance systems in the city. One provision of the ordinance would require the city to void the contracts it approved with Flock Safety last month. 

In the early morning of July 14 — after hours of comments from more than 50 residents, nearly all of whom disapproved the move to partner with Flock — Huntington City Council voted 6-4 to enter into a five-year contract with Flock Safety for surveillance tools. The tools, including automated license plate readers, voice recorders, drones and cameras, are meant to be used by law enforcement to stymie crime. Huntington Mayor Patrick Ferrell and Huntington Police Chief Phil Watkins urged approval of the contract.

Flock Safety devices have raised privacy concerns in other jurisdictions they’ve been used in. In December, 60 Flock cameras in California were compromised, leaving public livestreams available for anyone to access and download from a 30 day period. In Houston, at least six Flock cameras were cut last month after residents complained about the devices. The Los Angeles Police Department announced in July that it would not renew its contact with Flock, citing concerns over privacy.

In recent months, investigations have revealed that numerous police across the country have misused the technology to stalk people unrelated to criminal investigations.

A few days after the Huntington City Council meeting, ACLU-WV filed suit against the City of Huntington on behalf of a resident over allegations that the city neglected key procedural matters before awarding the contract. Per the suit, the city’s own laws stop private companies, like Flock, from using or benefitting from the use of city-owned property. There is a proper process that, if followed, would allow the city to grant use of its property, but that process was not followed, the lawsuit contends.

Representatives for ACLU-WV have indicated that further legal action could come related to the contract signed by Huntington City Council.

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