Jason Schmidt
Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt is speaking in support of Flock cameras despite public concern.
Schmidt released a statement regarding Flock Safety cameras after making a presentation on the system to the Fredonia Village Board and a large number of citizens in attendance on August 31, 2026.
He said he began looking into law enforcement camera and license plate reader (“LPR”) systems for the Fredonia-Dunkirk communities to fill the void in coverage compared to Jamestown’s public safety cameras. Schmidt said that cameras and LPRs represent, “…a necessary foothold in police efforts to solve and deter crimes – all categories of crimes, from those that diminish our quality of life, such as stealing packages from someone’s porch, to homicides and other critical incidents which threaten our public safety and deplete our precious law enforcement resources.”
He added that the village of Fredonia and the DA’s office found that Flock Safety met cost and law enforcement needs, saying, “…Flock’s network of coverage across county and state lines was its most attractive selling point. Long after criminals have committed their crimes and fled the area, police grind away 24/7 doing the hard work necessary to identify, find and capture them, many times outside of Chautauqua County. Flock’s network of coverage offers a far more effective law enforcement tool than can be pieced together by our local police agencies, all woefully understaffed, working with the limited number of cameras and LPRs currently on hand”
Schmidt did concede that Flock’s open network across jurisdictional lines “…appears to be the very feature which has caused the greatest concern amongst its opponents.” He said he’s aware of the controversies surround Flock Safety and that some of the issues and concerns raised by opponents are valid.
According to Politico, more than 50 cities and counties have canceled or deactivated automated license plate-recognition cameras, like those manufactured by Flock Safety, this year.
Republican Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) has introduced legislation to stop federal funding for certain surveillance technologies, citing concerns over privacy.
The legislation, called the “Flock-Off Act,” would block federal funds from being used to buy, install, operate, or upgrade automated license-plate readers and biometric surveillance cameras. It would remove systems that are federally funded and require state and local agencies to stop operating them within 180 days. The proposed bill says it would withhold federal program funds from recipients until violations of the spending prohibitions are repaid to the United States Treasury. It would also prohibit federal funds from paying for contracts, subscriptions, cloud services, databases, or data-sharing arrangements connected to covered camera systems.
Schmidt suggests forming a county-wide monitoring group to meet with him quarterly for purposes of ensuring against potential abuses of Flock’s open network and addressing other local concerns as they may arise going forward.
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