Framingham Rules, Ordinances, and Ethics Subcommittee Meeting - July 1, 2026

The Rules, Ordinances, and Ethics Subcommittee met on July 1, 2026, with Councilor Bryant, Councilor Feeney, and Chair John Stefanini present. The meeting had two main items: approval of the April 22 draft minutes and continued public discussion on a draft ordinance regulating automatic license plate reader (ALPR) data after the termination of the city's Flock contract. No agenda or minutes were separately available.

Approval of April 22 Draft Minutes

• Councilor Bryant moved approval and offered two corrections: on page 2, line 55, 'Councilor Steiner' should read 'Stefanini'; on line 51, 'FD' should read 'FPD.' She accepted these as friendly amendments. The minutes were adopted unanimously (3-0).

Discussion Items

• Chair Stefanini described the iterative process and the posted draft report and ordinance (22601002b). He said it incorporated each question raised by the community, except those tied to the former Flock master service agreement, which is no longer in effect.
• The main item was the draft ordinance to enhance trust in law enforcement, originally filed by Brandon Ward. The draft would narrow ALPR collection to license plate data, prohibit facial recognition, set privacy and data-protection guardrails under Massachusetts law, require covered contracts, establish login/logout logs, require a 30-day audit by the police chief, post audit results publicly, and provide quarterly reports to the City Council.
• The chair stated the Flock contract has been terminated, the cameras are off, and Flock has been asked to remove them within days. He said he would also ask for documented proof that the cameras are no longer collecting data.
• Chair Stefanini and Councilor Bryant explained the proposed data-sharing model: Framingham would own and control collected data; outside agencies would receive only case-by-case query results for a specific plate, not access to the full database; no data would be shared with federal agencies except in a local law enforcement matter such as an FBI bank-robbery investigation.
• Councilor Feeney raised concerns about vendor data ownership, hacking risks, the need for meaningful consequences for data breaches, and the importance of balancing individual privacy with public safety benefits such as finding missing children or preventing violent crime.
• Councilor Bryant expressed support for moving the ordinance to the full council, calling it a foundation for stronger citizen-privacy protections. She said if a vendor cannot meet the city's standards, 'I don't want you in my city.'

Public Comments & Testimony

• Ladybug (public commenter) asked whether FPD already has ALPRs on cruisers; cited ICE's use of Flock data in other states and Cambridge's ban; noted an ACLU report stating Flock's terms and conditions no longer contain language saying Flock does not own or sell customer data, while licensing grants Flock exclusive control over access; argued rules and oversight, not trust in individual officers, should be the basis of policy; and questioned whether Framingham police have had a third-party assessment on racial disparities or misconduct.
• Ian Malark, a Framingham resident and technology professional, opposed widespread camera surveillance and tracking. He said data remains vulnerable on cameras and networks even if stored with AWS, that location-history breaches have long-lasting effects because routines are predictable, and that abuses can be avoided only by not collecting the data in the first place.
• Kate Merido, a 13-year Framingham resident, presented Massachusetts crime statistics: after cameras were installed in 2022, total robbery incidents tripled in 2023, motor-vehicle thefts increased by 21% in 2024, and the overall crime rate stagnated in 2024. She argued there was no evidence the cameras reduce crime. She also described ALPR systems capturing vehicle details, contextual images, driver and passenger images, and metadata, and cited U.S. v. Jones and Carpenter v. United States as concerns about prolonged surveillance. She flagged Flock's advertised 97% accuracy rate, saying that with 315,287 unique vehicles on the portal in the last 30 days, a 7% error rate would mean about 22,070 license plates recorded incorrectly, and she referenced 15 documented erroneous stops.
• Laurie Bornstein (online) asked whether a warrant would be required for each query, argued that collecting everyone's data and then targeting one person undermines Fourth Amendment protections, requested a contractual penalty for data breaches, and said she saw no evidence of public-safety benefit sufficient to justify the risk. She also cautioned that the federal government could pressure vendors or the city for data, and that Framingham may lack resources to resist.
• Brian Schneider, District 7, asked about the transparency portal's 'network count' and whether data is shared through personal relationships or a broad network. He requested spot checks to verify that stated query reasons are genuine, and said future contracts should be reviewed publicly by the council before signing.
• Another commenter said a license plate is tied to a person, and even a few camera hits can reveal direction and timing over weeks or months; the commenter argued the evidence does not justify such detailed tracking and warned the federal government could obtain data from the vendor directly.
• Samantha McGary raised budget questions, noting the previous Flock contract was about $30,000 and was funded through the law-enforcement trust fund, not taxpayer dollars. She asked whether future vendor evaluations would include expert cybersecurity review and cautioned against 'enriching our tech overlords.'

Key Outcomes

• The subcommittee voted 3-0 to adopt the April 22 minutes with the two corrections.
• Councilor Bryant moved, and Councilor Feeney seconded, a motion to advance the draft ALPR ordinance to the full City Council with a recommendation and with the amendments and language adjustments discussed. The subcommittee voted 3-0 to approve the motion.
• Chair Stefanini said the ordinance would come before the council for debate and vote on two occasions, likely beginning at the next council meeting on July 21. If adopted, it would become city law, and any future ALPR contract would have to comply; he noted Flock's current master service agreement would not meet the ordinance's standards.
• The next Rules, Ordinances, and Ethics Subcommittee meeting was rescheduled from July 6 to July 13 at 6:30 p.m. to cover signage bylaws and rules amendments. The subcommittee then voted unanimously to adjourn.