Municipal leaders in New Lebanon have taken a definitive stand against the expansion of automated license plate readers, passing a local measure to restrict the controversial surveillance devices within the community. The New Lebanon Town Board voted unanimously on Tuesday night to approve a formal resolution opposing the installation and operation of Flock Safety cameras on town-owned land.
The municipal resolution establishes a clear barrier against using local public property and assets for broad surveillance networks. Under the newly approved policy, outside law enforcement and government agencies are strictly prohibited from utilizing town infrastructure to mount or operate these camera systems unless they secure formal authorization from the Town Board following a mandatory public hearing. Furthermore, town resources may not be deployed to contribute to or widen the reach of the proprietary Flock database.
The local legislative action comes as Columbia County continues to reckon with recent disclosures surrounding the clandestine acquisition of license plate reader technology by county law enforcement. Local officials and community members recently learned that the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office had quietly acquired 10 Flock cameras without providing prior notification to or seeking authorization from the county Board of Supervisors.
In their approved text, New Lebanon officials emphasized a dedication to safeguarding fundamental civil liberties, constitutional rights, and personal privacy. The resolution explicitly condemns the operational model underpinning the automated plate readers, categorizing widespread deployments as forms of continuous mass surveillance. Local lawmakers noted that these networks monitor the public indiscriminately, operating without individual reasonable suspicion or probable cause.
Town leaders highlighted the intrusive nature of automated vehicular tracking on ordinary citizens as they navigate daily life. The resolution expressed concern that such systems systematically record individuals traveling to sensitive locations, including visits to medical facilities, places of worship, appointments with legal counsel, and participation in political demonstrations or community gatherings.
While the town enacted strict prohibitions against automated license plate readers that catalog personal vehicular movements, the board clarified the boundaries of its policy. The resolution specifies that New Lebanon does not oppose the deployment of standard vehicle-counting cameras, which are used to measure traffic volume without collecting identifiable personal driver information.
New Lebanon Town Supervisor Tistrya Houghtling, who also serves as the Democratic leader on the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, supported the municipal measure. Following the board's vote, Houghtling announced plans to distribute the New Lebanon resolution to municipal leaders across Columbia County, encouraging neighboring towns to adopt identical protections against unauthorized surveillance infrastructure.
The immediate reach of the town's newly passed rule faces practical limitations regarding current installations. According to records cataloged by the crowd-sourced tracking initiative DeFlock Maps, at least one Flock camera is already situated within the geographic boundaries of New Lebanon. However, because that specific device is installed on private property, it remains exempt from the town’s ban on municipal property usage. Current Sheriff Jackie Salvatore has stated that all 10 cameras across the county are positioned on private land.
The broader dispute over the technology traces back to procurement decisions made by prior county leadership. It was recently revealed that former Columbia County Sheriff Don Krapf secured the 10 cameras in 2024 by utilizing funding from a state law enforcement grant. That purchase occurred roughly one year after a committee of the Board of Supervisors decided to table a proposal to acquire Flock cameras funded by an anonymous donor group.
Current Sheriff Jackie Salvatore, who served as undersheriff when the grant purchase took place, defended her predecessor's acquisition. Salvatore claimed that county supervisors had only been uncomfortable with accepting anonymous private donations to fund police equipment, which led the agency to pursue state grant alternatives. However, her characterization of the county board's stance has been openly disputed by at least one former supervisor.
The circumstances surrounding the hardware acquisition have prompted formal oversight. Columbia County Attorney Robert Fitzsimmons is conducting an official investigation to determine whether the sheriff's office violated any county bylaws, procedural rules, or procurement standards when former Sheriff Krapf procured the equipment without legislative approval.
In response to the inquiry, Salvatore maintained that the sheriff's office acted within its legal bounds. She argued that the agency executed a memorandum of understanding directly with Flock rather than entering into a formal vendor contract, asserting that such an agreement did not require supervisory approval from the county board.
The debate in New Lebanon coincides with mounting regional resistance organized by civil rights advocates and local officials. A coalition comprising activist organizations alongside current and former public servants staged a public rally last week to launch a unified campaign aimed at banning all Flock systems and automated license plate readers across Columbia County.
Flock Safety technology works by automatically photographing passing license plates and capturing vehicle attributes. The captured records are subsequently fed into searchable databases driven by artificial intelligence, enabling users to track vehicular movements and match plates against investigative databases.
Debates over the technology continue to ripple throughout the Hudson Valley region. Earlier this summer, the City Council in nearby Newburgh held discussions regarding whether to terminate its own memorandum of understanding with Flock Safety, though that municipal council ultimately voted down the proposal to cancel its agreement last month.
(0)