Select Board Halts Flock Camera Expansion
Other Committee · Meeting of September 22, 2026
Charlton Select Board pauses Flock camera expansion after fierce petition fight. Meeting jointly with the Finance Committee, the board closed the warrant for the town's October 19 special town meeting, advancing a $500,000 article to design a new senior community center on Masonic Home Road and nearly $1.4 million in police, fire and public works equipment. The night's biggest fight came over a citizens' petition, backed by more than 160 signatures, asking the board to cancel its Flock automated license plate reader contract.
Resident Brian Powers said neighboring Auburn, Southbridge, Douglas, Grafton and Boylston have all suspended or canceled similar deals, citing a "massive fiscal and legal risk." Police Chief Dan Dowd said the cameras store only license plate images for 30 days and have helped locate missing dementia patients. The board voted to hold off installing four additional cameras until after a public briefing and town meeting.
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 2,908 words
Source: the Other Committee meeting of September 22, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
Keep reading with a 30-day free trial
Subscribe to Charlton News to keep reading this post and get 30 days of free access to the full post archives.
Starting a trial requires a payment method. After 30 free days your subscription begins at the price shown at checkout and renews automatically until you cancel. You can cancel anytime from your account. Subscription terms
A subscription gets you:
- Subscriber-only posts and full archive
- Post comments and join the community
- 24x7 access to local news