By Christa Jennings
Senior Staff Writer
During last month’s meeting the Rockford Town Council heard from two area residents expressing their concerns over the town’s use of Flock automated license plate recognition cameras.
The town currently has four Flock cameras, one at each of the major entrances into town, located along U.S. Highway 231 North, Highway 231 South, Alabama Highway 22 East, and further out on Highway 22 West.
The cameras were first mentioned at the town’s March Council meeting earlier this year, when Mayor Scott White asked to confirm that the town should be receiving a grant check reimbursement for the cameras. At that time, Town Clerk Lesle Nelson said that once all cameras were installed then she would have to request the funds back.
At that March meeting White had explained that three of the four cameras were already installed and that the fourth one would be installed the following week. There was no record of discussion regarding the cameras prior to that.
During that discussion seven months ago, Councilmember Cordarius Lee had asked where the cameras are installed, and Police Chief George Fanning explained at that time that there is one on Alabama Highway 22 West on the Rockford side of Nixburg Road near the cemetery, which has since been moved further West, on Highway 22 East near the town limits sign and U.S. Highway 231 South “just past the sub station.”
Fanning added that the fourth one would be installed “around or just north of the furniture store.”
At that time White said the state had to approve where the cameras were installed and that they did not want to put them directly around the town signs.
In reviewing how the Flock cameras came to be in Rockford, the town was awarded a grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs for the four Flock cameras. The town had reportedly applied for the grant last January, and on July 14, 2025, Rockford’s application was approved.
The grant application was to purchase and install four Flock cameras, with the grant totaling $12,000.
While the town was awarded the grant last July, the cameras were not installed until nearly eight months later because of a lengthy process involving placement.
Over time, with Flock and similar automated license plate recognition cameras becoming more common, there have been numerous reports of misuse of their collected information, as well as raising privacy concerns, leading several municipalities and counties to end their contracts with the camera companies and remove the cameras.
With similar concerns, two citizens took their opportunity to speak up and voice their concerns about the cameras monitoring everyone who passes through Rockford. Each citizen was allotted four minutes to speak and address the Council.
Larry Johnson spoke for only one minute, addressing his concerns regarding “a thief called Flock” and concerns with information gathering and privacy violations, encouraging the Council to put the matter to a vote of the people.
“I’ve come here to talk about a thief – a thief called Flock and its civil liberty violations,” Johnson said to the Council. “Advocacy groups like the American Civil Liberty Union, ACLU, argue that the network builds a persistent, warrant-less tracking database of everyday citizens. Flock operates roughly 120,000 cameras across 49 states, spying and capturing billions of vehicle scans per month.”
“Documented instances of police misuse and abuse include officers using the system to stalk former partners or even track reproductive or abortion related travel,” Johnson said. “States like Texas are pushing back to restrict or halt Flock technology by freezing state spending. Flordia’s governor, Ron DeSantis, is revoking state highway permits, and Pennsylvania’s governor, Josh Shapiro, is calling for a state ban altogether.”
“Over 100 cities have deactivated cameras or canceled contracts, driven by local town halls and public pressure,” Johnson added. “In Rockford, the town that I live in and do my business in, Flock just appeared. No vote, no town hall, nothing. Just ‘here it is; take it or leave it.’ It’s time to stand up and at the very least, put it to a vote, a referendum or ridding Flock and other tracking devices. Let the people that elected you all say yes or no. Not here it is; take it or leave it.”
Johnson further said that he intends to take up a petition for a referendum for a vote on ridding Flock cameras in Rockford.
There are five reported ALPR cameras within Coosa County, with four of those five being located in Rockford. The only other reported camera in the rest of the county is located on Highway 22 East shortly before crossing the Tallapoosa County line, near the Alexander City Community Based Facility, a community work center with the Alabama Department of Corrections.
Elaine Walton also addressed the Council to discuss the town’s use of Flock cameras, stating that they threaten people’s rights.
“The Declaration of Independence guarantees certain rights that include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” she said. “These words may be 250 years old, but they’re more relevant today because civilization has advanced in ways our forefathers never thought possible. Flock cameras are a direct threat to these rights and to democracy as we know it. And if you think, ‘Well isn’t she being dramatic?’ then buckle up.”
Walton proceeded to hold up the book “1984” by George Orwell to show the mayor and Council.
“If you haven’t read it, do yourself a favor and read about the dystopian world that I thought could never exist when I was literally reading it in 1984,” she told the Council. “Flock is Big Brother. It’s watching you every day. It never sleeps. Aside from Flock, your phone sends your call details, texts and photos to many large tech companies, including China. Your emails are scanned and archived, your car records your conversation and sends your data to insurance companies, credit card companies demand your voice to confirm you are you, and your doctor insists that you allow AI to record your voice during an exam. Do you know that Microsoft Windows and smart TVs send screenshots of your activities to the manufacturer several times a minute? Why do you think most phone apps are free and smart TVs are so cheap? Because you are the product.”
Walton further mentioned large retail stores such as Walmart, Lowe’s and Home Depot rolling out the use of facial recognition and fingerprints, which she said they like to call “passkeys,” to complete transactions.
“If those facts don’t scare you, Google ‘China Social Score’ if you want to read a real-life horror story. Those cameras can identify who you are simply by the way you walk,” she added.
“I’m sick of hearing, ‘Well if you’re doing nothing wrong then you have nothing to worry about,’” Walton added. “Who decides what’s right or wrong? Some AI bot who can’t tell the difference between a zero and the letter O on a car tag? And what’s lawful today may become a crime tomorrow and vice versa – just ask the convict imprisoned for drug charges, or call someone by their legal name instead of their pronoun, or watch a guy use the women’s bathroom.”
“Flock is an $8 billion surveillance machine that doesn’t care about anything other than gathering data,” she said. “Flock captures over 20 billion images every month, so the need for storage is growing by the minute. Why do you think they want to build so many data centers?”
“We are just a page away from being a surveillance state just like the one described in this horrific little book,” she added, referencing “1984” again. “If you, your friends, or family do things that could be embarrassing or unethical, know that Flock cameras are everywhere, waiting to record, save and distribute your questionable behaviors and actions directly to the authorities or posted to social media because bad behavior has a way of making front page news, and people never forget a juicy scandal.”
She further stated that America is experiencing “the greatest threat humanity has ever seen because of AI.”
“We’re so distracted by HypnoSlabs,” Walton said, indicating a smartphone, “that we ignore the fact that we’re losing a little more freedom with every new ‘feature’ tech offer – and this one is named Flock safety. Make no mistake, Flock is AI’s hands, ears and eyes.”
Walton said, “Cameras won’t stop bullets, bombs, or bad guys, no matter how many cameras there are. Are you willing to sacrifice your life, liberty and…” before she was cut off by town attorney Tom Young and Mayor White for reaching her time limit.
Walton was near the end of her prepared speech when she was cut off for time. She shared the remainder of her speech with the newspaper.
It reads as follows, “Are you willing to sacrifice the loss of your life, your liberty and your happiness for Flock? Because that’s the real question everyone has to ask for themselves first. It’s a decision bigger than any one of us here, but it’s a decision all of us have to decide. As servants of the public, I respectfully ask the question to allow Flock to operate in Coosa County be subject to the will of the people. Let people vote. Thank you.”
As such, Johnson and Walton were both expressing their concerns and ultimately asking the town to allow the people to vote on whether to allow Flock cameras or ban their use.
The Council and mayor said nothing following Johnson’s and Walton’s comments and proceeded to the next agenda item, which was the last matter prior to adjourning, simply comments from the mayor and Council.
In other business earlier in the 17-minute Council meeting last month, the Council voted on filling a vacancy on the Utilities Board, with it being stated that the Council had conducted interviews the night prior to the meeting.
It was also mentioned that three individuals had applied for the position, which was a vacancy left by Janice Kilgore.
Councilmember Lynn Castleberry nominated Katherleen Larmon for the position, and Councilmember Shirley Ogle seconded the motion.
With a roll call vote Council members Ogle, Castleberry and Robert Smith voted yes, as did Mayor White. Councilmembers Nieshia Whetstone and Cordarius Lee voted no.
As such, Larmon was appointed to the Utilities Board with a majority vote of 4-2, which includes the mayor’s vote.
The Council also unanimously approved renewing a one-year contract with Neumo for business licenses, stating that the fees had not changed.
The Council also received a copy of a proposed ordinance relating to business licenses for review, with the matter to be voted on at this month’s meeting.
The business license fees were initially discussed at the September meeting, with White saying fees needed to be increased and that it would be the first increase to business licenses since he was sworn in as mayor, with the last increase reportedly being in 2007.
In discussion, in addition to increasing the fees, it was stated that numerous types of businesses would also need to be added to the town’s list since it had not been updated in some time.
At the September meeting, the Council, with Councilmember Lee absent, voted unanimously to increase the business license base fee to $75.
Also during the 15-minute September meeting, the Council took action to fill an upcoming vacancy on the Rockford Utilities Board. For that position the town had received two applicants, incumbent Ronnie Brown and Charles Kenney. It is unknown when interviews were conducted for that position.
Taking a roll call vote, all four Council members present and the mayor voted in favor of Councilmember Smith’s nomination for appointing Kenney to the Board. As such, Kenney was appointed to fill the six-year position beginning October 1.
Brown had served on the Utilities Board for 30 years and served as chair of the Board for the past decade or longer.
The next regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the Rockford Town Council will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, November 17.
