Hewitt residents deserve both safety and privacy. 

The City of Hewitt currently operates a network of Flock Safety automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras. These cameras capture images of vehicles and license plates as they travel through our community, including vehicles belonging to people who are not suspected of any crime. The camera pictured above is one of approximately 20 Flock cameras operating throughout the Hewitt area, and this one is located at Hewitt Park.

We recognize the legitimate goal of helping law enforcement investigate crimes and locate stolen vehicles or wanted suspects. However, public safety should not require creating a system that routinely records and makes searchable the movements of ordinary, law-abiding people.

The question is not whether Flock can ever help police. The question is whether the benefits justify the privacy implications of maintaining this system in our community and whether Hewitt residents have been given sufficient opportunity to weigh in on that decision.

We believe the answer is no.

Hewitt should pursue effective public-safety strategies while respecting the privacy and civil liberties of its residents. A person's decision to drive through Hewitt should not automatically create a searchable record of where they were, where they came from, or where they were going.

We are asking the Hewitt City Council to:

• Terminate the City's Flock Safety ALPR program;
• Remove the Flock cameras currently operating in Hewitt;
• Prohibit the City's continued use of Flock or other automated license plate reader systems for routine surveillance; and
• Pursue public-safety alternatives that do not rely on the routine collection and retention of vehicle-location data from law-abiding residents.
• This petition is about more than Flock. It is about what kind of community Hewitt wants to be.

We believe Hewitt can be both safe and free from unnecessary surveillance.

If you are a current resident of the incorporated City of Hewitt, please sign this petition and let the City Council know that you want the Flock cameras removed.

Supporters outside Hewitt are welcome to share this petition, but signatures from Hewitt residents will be identified separately so that the Council can clearly see the level of local support.