Police chief outlines Flock camera pilot; council raises privacy concerns and delays vote

North Providence Police Chief Vergiero told the Town Council on April 2 that he was seeking authorization to begin a pilot of four Flock license-plate‑reader cameras. Vergiero described the data and access policy that would govern the pilot: data would be stored by the police department, not by the vendor in the cloud; footage and plate reads would be retained for 30 days and then automatically deleted; and access would be limited to three department personnel — the chief, the deputy chief and the internal affairs investigator.

“The data is only stored for 30 days, and it gets automatically deleted from the system,” Vergiero said. He also said the vendor does not save the images in the cloud and that the town would retain full access. Council members asked whether officers could make ad‑hoc queries of the system and whether outside agencies could obtain data; Vergiero said access would only occur for investigative reasons and any outside request would come through formal channels.

An unnamed council member raised constitutional and long‑term governance concerns, invoking the adage that those who give up liberties for security deserve neither and asking, “What happens when this council’s gone?” The council agreed to hear the chief’s presentation and to continue the item for a formal vote at the April 22 meeting to allow time for policy wording and further questions.

Next steps: the council continued discussion and scheduled a vote at the April 22 meeting; the chief estimated costs for a four‑camera pilot (annual recurring unit fees and one-time installation).