WATCH: Barnstable Council Axes Flock Cameras in 7-3 Vote Despite Police Push

HYANNIS, MASSACHUSETTS – Barnstable Town Council voted 7-3 on Thursday, September 3, 2026, to terminate the town’s contract with Flock Safety and take down the four automated license plate readers operating in town, overriding a last-minute appeal from police leadership. The following HN video containing footage of the meeting captures public comments, council debate, police presentations, and the final 7 to 3 vote. Police Chief Jean Challies and Detective Lt. Joseph Green outlined tighter controls the department has already put in place: restricted access, shorter data retention, routine audits, and a ban on outside agencies querying Barnstable’s footage directly. They described the cameras as a focused investigative aid rather than a tool for tracking everyday travel, pointing to alerts involving stolen cars, thefts, weapons cases, hit-and-runs, and drug investigations. They also noted two shootings—one outside a Hyannis apartment complex and another at Craigville Beach—where plate data helped identify vehicles and suspects. The four cameras sit on Route 28 near Santuit/Newton Road, Route 28 near Strawberry Hill Road, Main Street in Hyannis, and Yarmouth Road approaching the former Exit 7. Three of them concentrate around Hyannis, which accounted for 72 percent of the town’s 1,996 reported crimes in 2025. Officials framed Barnstable, and Hyannis in particular, as a regional hub with a hospital, Steamship Authority terminal, mall, and airport, arguing the technology helps meet public-safety expectations. Most councilors decided the added safeguards still fell short on privacy, independent oversight, and the town’s relationship with a private vendor that operates similar networks nationwide. One councilor said residents in her precinct simply do not want the cameras. Others argued searches of the data should generally require a warrant except in true emergencies. Another suggested a citizen review layer. A fourth said the issue was less the technology itself than Flock as the company supplying it. Council President Craig Tamash, a retired Barnstable deputy police chief, was among the three who voted to keep the program, citing the restrictions already imposed and the loss of a useful investigative resource – “I don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater… and I think that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Tamash said in a concluding statement. The vote does not close the door forever. At least one councilor indicated support for a future automated license plate reader proposal if it included stronger privacy rules and clearer oversight…   In June, HN covered a story in Cotuit where a ski-masked person was seen using a two-by-four to smash one of Barnstable’s four cameras—the solar-powered unit on Route 28 near Santuit-Newtown Road—before fleeing; police have not announced an arrest.   Hyannis News also covered the recent turmoil in New Bedford, where one council meeting dissolved into chaos over Flock cameras and a follow-up session voted to suspend the system, at least for now. Similar debates have played out in other Massachusetts communities that have paused, canceled, or declined to renew Flock contracts amid concerns about data sharing, retention, accuracy, and potential misuse. Barnstable’s four cameras are now scheduled for removal. Whether the town later adopts a different license-plate-reader system under tighter local control remains an open question for later debate. The following video contains over an hour of excerpts from Thursday’s town meeting where members of the public, town council, and police officials voiced their opinions on the controversial issue of Flock cameras… [Hyannis News Video – Press Play] P.S. – Today’s Hytown Vignette is brought to you by Jeannie C. Riley… [CLICK IT/CRANK IT! HEADPHONES ABSOLUTELY OBLIGATORY!]