The Tiverton man identified by a local organization Wednesday of funding Tiverton’s FLOCK camera contract for five years is no stranger to charitable donations, and regularly provides financial support to the Special Olympics, Tiverton athletic boosters, URI athletics, high school students and other local and state organizations.

“He’s one of those unsung heroes of the community,” Tiverton Town Council vice president David Paull said of his friend Peter Sherman, husband of Tiverton School Committee member Jocelyn M. Sherman.

“If you look around you’ll see so many things he’s done for the right reasons — he doesn’t get into the politics of it and doesn't do it for the attention,” Paull said.

Sherman was thrust into politics Wednesday, when a local organization alleged a conflict of interest and impropriety in claiming that Sherman, owner of Newport Propane in Middletown, has been paying the yearly contract for Tiverton's three FLOCK cameras since at least 2021.

"The optics of impropriety are impossible to ignore," Tiverton resident VA Lopes, spokesperson for Indivisible South Coast New England, wrote.

Lopes' press release originally stated that Sherman lived in Middletown, but the address given was that of his business, Newport Propane. Tiverton tax records show that Sherman lives on Sandra Lee Lane in Tiverton; the error was later corrected in a follow-up email from Lopes.

The release also alleged that documents sought and received by Tiverton resident Ivy Hall under the Freedom of Information Act show that Sherman has funded the cameras' contract every year since 2021. But documents included with the press release indicate only that he is listed as a billable party in one year — 2021. Apart from that, his Middletown business address was listed in 2024 and 2025 as the "ship to" address for the contract, with payment billable to Kayla Silva, administrative assistant to Tiverton police chief.

Despite the discrepancies, Lopes said Thursday that Indivisible's issue with the private payment remains:

"Our issue is that the contract for Tiverton ... is written for" Sherman, she said.

"Are we to believe that our privacy now simply goes to the highest bidder? We need immediate action to terminate this agreement and reassure the public that their civil liberties are not for sale," she added in the release. "FLOCK cameras capture and log sensitive data about the movements of everyday citizens, making private involvement a major liability for the community."

No comment, but ...

Tiverton police declined to comment, Tiverton Town Administrator Patrick Jones did not return a phone call, and Sherman also declined to speak directly to the Sakonnet Times, preferring to have Paull act as his spokesperson. To that end, Paull said the answer of how Sherman's name ended up on FLOCK camera documents goes back about five or more years:

Around 2021, a neighbor and friend's home was broken into, and losses were substantial, Paull said. At some point afterwards, Sherman was talking to police officers who mentioned that due to the home's location, a FLOCK camera mounted on a nearby feeding street would likely have been able to capture the license plate of whatever vehicle was tied to the theft.

"So he said, 'How can I help?'," Paull said. "He thought he was going to write a check to the TPD but instead, they put his contact name on the 'bill to' line" and he subsequently received and paid a $3,000 invoice from FLOCK for three years of service.

"That was it," Paull said.

Paull said as much in a Wednesday, June 17 e-mail to Hall, who originally sought the contract records.

In response to an email in which she asked questions about the appropriateness of the payments, Paull said he had no problem with Sherman's actions, and suggested that residents should not be alarmed that their civil liberties are at risk.

"I can assure you that Mr. Sherman has NO access to ANY cameras," Paull wrote. "He has been a huge supporter of this community, from the police department to the school department to the various fundraising efforts of any organization in our community. You have likely been directly (affected) by a donation of support as he does so quietly and without seeking attention."

"I will (dig) my (heels) in on his name being slandered in any way," he wrote.

Members of the Tiverton Town Council are expected to vote Monday evening on whether to pass a 2026-27 budget  that includes a $23,000 police department line item out of which cameras could be purchased with council approval at a later date.

Lopes writes in her release that residents are encouraged to attend the meeting and speak their mind:

'Residents are intensifying their fight against mass surveillance," she wrote. "Tiverton has quietly run a small number of these cameras for more than a decade without public knowledge, but recent requests from local police and state agencies to add more units across Tiverton and Little Compton have drawn intense public scrutiny. Citizens now demand that the town cut ties with FLOCK Safety entirely to protect the privacy and civil liberties of the public."

Partial list

According to David Paull, Peter Sherman's spokesperson, Sherman's recent donations and charitable actions include the following:

According to Paull, Peter Sherman has financially supported or volunteered for the following:

• Tiverton Dog Park

• Tiverton Baseball

• Tiverton Little League

• Tiverton High School journalism club trip

• Tiverton football — donated and volunteered at home games to track stats

• Hammer circle donation and monetary donation to Tiverton middle and high school track teams;

• Service as a volunteer track coach

• Service as a volunteer at Pocasset and Tiverton Middle School PTO events

• Donated to PTO/school events at Pocasset & Tiverton Middle School

• Donated to Tiverton High School drama and TheCORE.rg

• Volunteer for Tiverton Middle School bathroom paint project;

• Donated to Tiverton Middle School teacher’s room makeover project for teacher appreciation week, and volunteered for that project

• Donated to Special Olympics

• Donated to URI athletics

• Paid for three Tiverton fire fighters to attend training at the Massachusetts Fire Academy