Quincy council takes no vote on Flock cameras

Select Board · Meeting of October 6, 2026

Quincy's council heard more than four hours of testimony on the police department's Flock surveillance cameras but took no vote. Chief Mark Kennedy defended the department's 49 license plate reader cameras plus one live-feed camera, saying the city shut off nationwide data sharing on August 6, 2026, and cut data retention from 30 to 14 days after the September 8 council meeting. ACLU policy counsel Gideon Epstein countered that "there should have been a public hearing" before the cameras went up, and Northeastern professor Matthew Ross said rigorous research on Flock's effectiveness is "completely lacking." Councilor Maggie McKee pressed Kennedy on a vendor security notice disclosed September 22, 2026, about a vulnerability first found in late 2025.

Councilor Susan Yuan called for immediately terminating Quincy's Flock contract; other councilors said they need more data on costs and lease terms before any vote.

In the full story:

• Setting Ground Rules For A Contested Hearing
• Resident Testimony: A Call For A Ban
• Chief Kennedy's Timeline And System Demonstration
• District Attorney Morrissey: Case Examples
• ACLU Counsel Gideon Epstein: Contracts And Case Law
• Northeastern Professor Matthew Ross: What The Research Shows
• Independent Analyses: Hurley And Capron
• Council Questions And Deliberation
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,334 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of October 6, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.