Red Bay City Council considering revised LPRS policy, solicits community input once again

The Red Bay City Council will consider a revised License Plate Recognition System (LPRS) policy at a meeting in October after posting the policy for the public to read and scheduling a second meeting to receive citizen input on the revised policy.

The council approved posting the proposed policy at its September 9th meeting and it was available on the city’s website the following day. The meeting to receive citizen input will be held on October 5th at 7 p.m., with the council tentatively set to vote on the revised policy, with any additional changes made as a result of the second public meeting, at its October 7th regular meeting.

The council did not approve the LPRS policy originally presented to it after receiving extensive community backlash when two Flock LPRS cameras were installedearlier this year.

One of those cameras is located on Golden Road, and the other was erected on Highway 19.

The council directed Red Bay Police Chief Janna Jackson to suspend any operation or use of the cameras until or unless a policy establishing how data from the cameras will be used and how, or if, data will be shared with other law enforcement agencies.

Jackson said at a previous meeting that no images or data from the Flock cameras had been viewed other than shortly after their installation.

LPRS camera systems, including the widely popular law enforcement choice of Flock cameras, are the subject of extensive debate.

Law enforcement officers describe the cameras as a valuable tool in criminal investigations and cite examples of data from LPRS cameras directly leading to cases being solved.

Concerns about the cameras range from Constitutional privacy issues and cite examples of law enforcement officers illegally accessing data from the cameras for personal reasons, most often to gather information on a past or present domestic partner or family member.

Councilman Brad Bolton said the original policy presented to the council was drafted by Jackson using information she received from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and other law enforcement agencies. After reviewing the policy, council members made some recommended changes. Additional changes were made to the proposed policy after public input at the first community meeting. 

“We took all the comments from the public and drafted those into what the policy should and should not contain,” Bolton said. “ I was very complimentary of our Chief (at the September 9th meeting) as she did everything we asked her to do. There was nothing missing out of my concerns, the council’s concerns or those of the public.

“Some of our concerns include the audit function for the cameras, restricting the use and release of information and making sure any enhancements to the product get approval from the council before they are implemented,” Bolton said.

Bolton said the revised policy now posted satisfactorily addressed all his concerns, and “every public recommendation other than getting rid of the system” was included in the revised draft.

“I was pleased with the final result. Once it gets out there, we’ll see what the community thinks,” Bolton said.

When the cameras were purchased with the initialpayment of $6,000, Bolton said Jackson used available equipment funds in the RBPD budget, which she was permitted to do. As part of that purchase, Jackson entered into a three-year contract with Flock Surveillance Systems that began in February 2026. Although she was within her role as a department head purchasing the cameras, Bolton said the council did not find out until the cameras were installed that a three-year contract was in place.

“The Chief engaged services with them under her police budget, which is what she normally does if the purchase is needed for the department and within her budget for the year, which the $6,000 was,” Bolton said. “But the service contract was never brought to the council. When the policy was brought up after the cameras went live, that’s when we started realizing they’re here already and a contract was signed so we were in a reactive mode at that point along with everyone else.”

Bolton said the council will consider a purchasing policy amendment requiring any multi-year agreement more than $10,000 to be approved by the council in advance.

“We learn from our missteps and will address how not to create a similar situation again. When we get a final policy on the cameras approved, I think the public will be pleased their voices were heard and their concerns were implemented in the revisions.

“All we want is to make sure we have a policy that meets all expectations, has the necessary do’s and don’ts with full transparency and I think this revised draft hits all those buttons,” Bolton said.

That policy, Bolton said, will be significantly more restrictive than those of other law enforcement agencies in the state.

“Let’s give law enforcement the tools they need but protect everyone involved with a much more restrictive policy than anyone in the county, Northwest Alabama or even the State of Alabama before it gets done,” Bolton said.