Flock cameras are recognizable around the county, including in Berea, by their small solar panels, and the small AI generated camera that the panel powers. Their alleged purpose is to read license plates to aid in apprehending criminals. Their actual activity, however, includes the collection of people's commute patterns, driving habits, and more, something that Berean Aaron Shaffer informed Council about during its second regularly scheduled meeting of the month.

"They are a violation of our Fourth Amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure, against prosecution by our government without a reasonable suspicion or a warrant," Shaffer told Council during the public comment section of the meeting.

The Berea Police Department uses Flock camera images to help detect stolen vehicles, or other crimes, according to Police Chief Jason Hays, who made his comments in early 2025 while presenting Council with an annual review of police activity in 2024. The cameras have been useful in apprehending criminals, according to Hays.

However, the cameras surveil all-comers, not just "bad guys", collecting information on any driver—or pedestrian—who passes by the cameras. And at least one time, those records were inadvertently made public when Flock footage from 60 cities across the US was exposed on the internet.

Because of Flock's high rate of accuracy in identifying plates or persons, when paired with facial recognition and location-targeting technology developed by defense contractor, Palantir, Flock images are one of several surveillance technologies used by ICE in partnership with local authorities, to target communities during immigration sweeps, according to 404 Media and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting civil liberties from electronic surveillance.

Reporting on Palantir's Enhanced Leads Identification & Targeting for Enforcement (ELITE), 404 Media wrote, "The tool aims to be nearly all encompassing when it comes to finding ICE targets, from identifying subjects in the first place, to building a list of people, to supervisors approving selections for officers to ultimately go into the field and apprehend."

Flock images have also been used to surveil No Kings protestors nationally, sparking outrage and a nationwide push to protest the use of the surveillance technology, which often is deployed without much public discussion, if any.

"We have a lot more pressing issues," Shaffer told Council. "The park bathrooms that people complain are under-maintained or constantly locked up and cut off from public access, it's just one issue instead of building up some tech oligarch's surveillance state."

This is a developing story. The Edge already had been investigating Flock Safety use in Berea. Check back for The Edge's forthcoming investigation.

Council briefs

Board appointments

Mayor Bruce Fraley asked Council to approve three appointments: Stacy Edwards to the Board of Adjustments to cover the unexpired term of Andrew Gardner; and Ernestine Brashear and Diane Kerby to the Ethics Board. Council passed all appointments in separate unanimous voice votes.

Municipal Order

To address the end of the penny in cash collections, Municipal Order 03-2026, which passed unanimously in a voice vote, now authorizes the City to round all amounts up or down to the nearest .05 cents. This does not affect non-cash payments or online payments.

City Administrator report

Shawn Sandlin, city administrator, told Council that an agreement with trash hauler Waste Connections had been reached regarding overflow charges. The hauler had been charging local businesses additional fees for various infractions including Dumpsters that were not fully closed. Because these fees had not been negotiated in the contract, further negotiations were necessary, according to Sandlin. The agreement is now under review by the Council and is expected to go into effect in May.

In response to a question asked by Councilmember Jerry Little about the fees going forward, Sandlin said that there will be an educational campaign for businesses so they will know how to prepare their trash for pick up without being assessed any additional fees. Sandlin said that residents who leave the lid open on their 95 gallon tubs will not be assessed a fee.

Refunds will be issued to businesses that were assessed a fee prior to this new agreement, according to Sandlin. All overflow fees are suspended until the Council agrees to the new agreement.

Little also mentioned that he had been reached by constituents who attempted to contact Waste Connections but either the phone rang without any answer, or the customer service team was "not really friendly. If you call and they don't answer the phone, what do you do in that case?"

Sandlin said that customer service had also been discussed during the meeting with Waste Connections, and he hoped it would improve going forward. Councilmember Ronnie Terrill agreed with Little that customer service is an issue and asked who in particular should people call. Sandlin replied that citizens should try to resolve their issues with the hauler first, and use him only as a last resort.

Councilmember John Payne suggested that citizens use the email address for customer service at Waste Connections so that they will have an electronic record of communications with the trash company. Short of that, he said to record any phone calls, given that Kentucky is a one-party state making recording of a call legal, and that they will then have a record of how the call went.

Little reminded citizens it's usually not the driver but the office staff that are problematic.

Terrill insisted there had to be a way for elderly people to interact and record their communications with Waste Connections. There was no response to this comment.

Sandlin said also Spring clean up is in session and will end on Friday, April 24.

Mayor comments

Fraley noted that The Kentucky Farm Bureau and The Kentucky Association of Manufacturers, cosponsor an annual contest called The Coolest Thing Made in Kentucky. Fraley said he and the City's business development director, Donna Angel, had attended a ceremony to honor Hyster-Yale, whose military fork lift had won this year's contest. "It was a great celebration,' he said. "It was great to see a spotlight on manufacturing in Kentucky."

Terrill spoke up then to say that maybe the trash haulers, because "they pick up a lot of stuff" should be nominated for next year's contest.

Council comments

Terrill: "I'm just gonna talk trash."

Councilmember Katie Startzman: thanked citizens for being in the audience for the meeting, and thanked Shaffer for his comments.

Payne: Thanked Shaffer for his comments, and asked that if anyone had any concerns for the Parks Committee, to let him know before the meeting on Tuesday, April 28th at 5:30PM.

Councilmember Steve Davis: Thanked the public for attending and Shaffer for his comments.

Councilmembers Barry Poynter, Steve Caudill, Little, Teresa Scenters all had no comment.