by Geoff Fox
Town officials unanimously voted to remove the Flock cameras that were installed over the summer at various entry points into Hancock after a trial period revealed an inability for the camera system to share information with other municipalities.
The decision came as the trial period for the cameras comes to a close.
Town Manager Mike Faith said the company called before all the cameras were installed to tell him the trial period was up and to see if the town would want to extend the trial.
Faith said of course they wanted to extend the trial because the cameras weren’t working yet and were not all installed.
There were a few issues with the cameras, he added.
The first camera was installed at Joseph Hancock Park, which isn’t where the town told Flock to install the camera. It was supposed to be closer to Limestone Road.
“If you click on that camera, it says it’s Limestone Road because that’s where we wanted it, over by Pizza Hut,” Faith said. Town officials and police have access to the camera system.
Mayor Roland Lanehart, Jr. said the idea for the cameras were to be at the entrances and exits of town instead of just one at the center of town to get the license plate of people who may have committed a crime.
The camera in Joseph Hancock Park, Faith said, was in front of where the town was going to be putting the Christmas tree.
Faith sent the company pictures of where the town wanted the cameras, going back and forth a few times, and that’s when the camera was installed at Joseph Hancock Park.
When then-Chief Rich Miller, Faith, and Lanehart met with the company about the cameras, they were told the Hancock equipment would communicate with cameras in Hagerstown.
Lanehart said if a murder had occurred in Hagerstown, the system would alert the cameras in Hancock to let the police know to be on the lookout.
“Now we’re being told that the Flock cameras we have, the ones they just installed, will not communicate with any other municipality,” Lanehart said.
That was the main reason the town entered into the agreement, he said.
Chief Thomas said it was somewhat true about the communication, but the issue is the town cannot share with the other agencies because of regulations within the state of Maryland.
According to the state, the system Flock uses is not a secure system.
Thomas said he started sharing information with other agencies and was told by a sergeant at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office he couldn’t do so.
The chief said he had to call and have everything retracted.
“We can’t even share it with Washington County or any other agency in Maryland,” Thomas said.
Thomas added if another agency were to call him and ask to verify a vehicle and share it with them, he’d only be able to tell the agency that he found the car.
“I can’t pass any of that information on to them,” he said.
The Flock system isn’t secure enough that other Maryland police agencies would recognize it.
Thomas said there are other companies that are recognized by the state as being secure systems.
Lanehart said he could pull up the cameras on his phone and the $39 camera at the splash pad is clearer than the Flock cameras.
Councilman Richard Strong made the motion to have Flock come and remove the cameras from the town. Officials unanimously voted for the removal before the trial period was up.
The Flock cameras would have cost the town $19,500 a year if they had remained in service.
