To the editor:

At the November 12 Bristol Town Council meeting, the Rhode Island State Police offered to install a Flock surveillance camera near Mount Hope Bridge. We oppose this intrusion on our individual rights and request that all Bristolians join us in voicing their opposition to our Town Councilors.

Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs) like Flock use advanced high-resolution imaging and artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor vehicles. Flock cameras collect real-time data about vehicle movements and can assist law enforcement in tracking both criminal activities and amber alerts. Understandably, many public safety officials support using ALPRs to combat violent and property crimes in their communities.

However, Flock does not discriminate when it comes to tracking vehicles, every vehicle is tracked whether suspected of illegal activity or not. Tracking information, including license plate numbers and vehicle characteristics, is accessible to local, state and federal agencies, and future surveillance enhancements may include facial and voice recognition.

Tiverton’s Flock Transparency portal (https://transparency.flocksafety.com/tiverton-ri-pd) indicates surveillance data on the 42,969 vehicles detected in just the last 30 days is available to hundreds of local, state and federal organizations ranging from the Alabama Department of Corrections to the U.S. Postal Service.

Absent federal or state regulations, there are many documented instances of Flock data being stored, shared and used inappropriately. Communities across America including our neighbors in Portsmouth have rejected or challenged the legality of Flock, citing concerns about unauthorized data access and misuse of surveillance data.
Our decision to oppose the Flock camera installation in Bristol is informed by the need to balance individual rights versus public safety.

Bristol has been rated as the safest community in Rhode Island for six consecutive years based on violent and property crime rates. Our Police Chief rightfully credits the sworn and civilian public safety staff for this amazing record, and we couldn’t be more appreciative for all they do to protect us. Since Bristol is the safest community in the state year after year, why do we need Flock’s invasive surveillance system?

Bristol is known for its patriotism. Our amazing Fourth of July celebrations are not just a way to attract visitors or an excuse for a parade and outdoor concerts. In Bristol we celebrate and are celebrated for our commitment to liberty, to protecting individual rights, to warmly welcoming everyone to our town. We prefer to live in a community that prides itself on protecting individual rights and liberties, not a community that tracks the comings and goings of every resident and visitor as part of an invasive nationwide surveillance system.

The proposal to install a Flock camera in Bristol is on the agenda for the Town Council meeting on January 7, 2026. We’re sharing our opposition to this proposal with each Town Councilor before that meeting and we’ll attend the meeting in person to voice our opposition. We encourage like-minded Bristolians of every political persuasion to join us.

Sharon and Warren Wollschlager
Bristol