Pepper Pike Council Weighs New Oversight Rules for Flock Cameras and Traffic Tracking Software

Pepper Pike City Council spent much of its Sept. 16 meeting on two topics that will likely shape city policy well beyond this year: how the city oversees surveillance technology and whether it needs a dedicated communications position. Members also advanced a sewer conversion ordinance, approved a landscaping contract, and heard about a new composting option coming to the city in October. Privacy Debate Over Flock Cameras and Traffic Data Council member Alyssa Swords opened a lengthy discussion on two data collection tools the city uses, Flock license plate reader cameras and Urban SDK traffic data software. Swords said she wants to understand why software like this has not required council approval in the past and argued that any new contract or expansion involving resident data collection should go through council regardless of cost. She also called for a public hearing so residents can weigh in on how the technology is used. Police Chief Karl Dietz explained the difference between the two systems. Urban SDK aggregates traffic speed data pulled from cell phones and satellite tracking and does not require the city to participate in the collection itself. Flock is different because placing the cameras requires an affirmative choice by the city. Dietz said Flock images are automatically deleted from the system on a set schedule, which recently dropped from thirty days to seven, and that the city owns its data and approves any outside agency it shares that data with. Swords raised a broader concern about data brokers, saying Flock's standard agreement can give the company broad rights to share a city's camera data unless a city specifically negotiates otherwise. Dietz said that language is not part of Pepper Pike's contract, and Mayor Richard Bain said the city would confirm that in writing. Council member Jackie Godic said her hesitation comes down to trusting the people who have access to the data rather than the technology itself, adding that she does not fully trust government systems any more than private companies. Dietz told council that a detective identified thirty four reports over the past three years in which Flock data assisted in a prosecution, some involving multiple jurisdictions. Cameras have been in use in the city for more than a decade under a five year contract renewal cycle, funded as part of an annual police technology budget line of roughly forty thousand dollars that does not require separate council approval. Swords proposed drafting an ordinance modeled on the American Civil Liberties Union's framework for police surveillance oversight, which calls for a public hearing, city council approval, a published use policy, a warrant requirement for sharing data with federal agencies, and annual public reporting on usage. Bain noted that council had discussed the issue informally in executive session in the past without taking a vote. Council agreed to move forward with a draft ordinance, with the chief reviewing it before it returns to council for public discussion. During audience comments, one resident asked whether Flock cameras trigger an alert during an Amber Alert. Dietz confirmed that they do. Another resident said the concern is not Pepper Pike's cameras specifically but the potential for camera data from multiple neighboring cities to be combined into a detailed picture of a person's daily movements, and asked the city to make its data sharing policy public. Communications Director Proposal Splits Council Swords, who leads the council's communications committee, presented results from surveys sent to residents, council members, and city staff earlier this year. Roughly forty percent of resident respondents said they struggle to find accurate city information, and close to half said it is hard to understand why council made a particular decision. Residents said they want more updates on construction, infrastructure, and service outages, with a preference for email for routine updates and texting for anything urgent. Staff and council responses pointed to an estimated ten hours a week spent collectively on communications tasks that are not formally part of anyone's job, without a shared process or templates. Based on that research, the committee recommended hiring a fractional communications director for a one year term, working between twenty and forty hours a week at an estimated forty five to sixty five dollars an hour before benefits. The role would combine strategic planning with hands on work such as building a site map ahead of the city's planned website redesign this January. Swords asked council to direct the administration to draft a job description, reporting structure, and budget request ahead of the 2027 budgeting process. Bain pushed back on the proposal, saying he was not aware of specific staff complaints about communications workload and pointing to recent improvements, including a construction status page on the city website and the use of artificial intelligence t