The Bolivar Board of Aldermen met on July 29 to discuss the growing concerns surrounding the use of Flock Cameras in Bolivar. Preceding the meeting, a town hall was held to hear the thoughts of people in the community.
Speaker Tristan Wyatt expressed concern regarding the community's input in the flock camera approval. “Why were we not asked for input or opinion before this third-party-owned surveillance company was allowed to sink its roots into the community?” said Wyatt. The community sentiment surrounding the flock cameras revolved around not feeling comfortable with the language and history of Flock, and how they would use their data.
During the Board of Aldermen meeting, Alderman Dusty Ross questioned the contract the City of Bolivar has with Flock. According to City Administrator Thomas Relford, the city's contract with Flock was signed in Aug. 2025. However, the contract does not start until the Flock cameras are installed and operational. The first camera was operational as of June 2026, starting the 24 month contract with Flock to eventually install up to seven cameras. The contract used a $54,000 grant from the city to install the cameras, but Ross believes that this should not block us from taking the cameras down.
Speakers brought up the language used by Flock in their terms and conditions to question their intent with the data of the community. Lucas Roberts states “On Feb. 16, Flock removed language that stated that Flock does not own and shall not sell customer data.” Many speakers at the town hall meetings also mentioned not consenting to their data being tracked, and having these changes in the language could cause the citizens of Bolivar to feel less secure. Alderman Ashley Raines also aired worries regarding the changing of terms. “I am kind of alarmed that when this was given to us, it was presented in such a way that we felt that the information would only be accessible by local law enforcement and after doing further research seeing that that is not entirely true is very concerning to me. I feel very uncomfortable continuing business with a company that operates that way," said Raines. This added to the distrust of the board surrounding Flock cameras and their intentions.
It is important to note that the city moved up the discussion regarding flock cameras, and forgoed a conversation with a representative of Flock to discuss these concerns.
The 24-month contract would cost the city a total of around $24,500 per year. The Board of Aldermen voted to review the contract at a later meeting and discuss ways to get out of the contract.
Brent Watkins also brought to the board's attention a request regarding new vests and training for fire and police officers. Alderman Raines called into question the narrow nature of the request, seeing that there was no wording in the request for helmets and other items. Watkins states that the funding will come from the insurance proceeds from the department. Watkins believes that this equipment will help change old policies and bring care to citizens in these situations quicker. The board motioned to set this aside and allow Watkins to come back with a more complete proposal.
Following this discussion Relford mentioned the city's code enforcement policy regarding dangerous buildings and structures. Alderman Ross questioned the enforcement of these policies, citing examples of buildings that have been brought to the board's attention in the past that have not been demolished or renovated.
According to Community Development Director Kyle Lee, once a structure is deemed dangerous, the city issues a 30 day notice for the owner to respond, and then after these 30 days another 30 day notice is issued until there is a hearing. Ross called into question the aggressiveness of these procedures, as owners can request permits, delaying the process by another year or more. Lee states that in the past he has acted in accordance with the way these procedures have been done, trying to be reasonable and accommodate property owners. However, he is willing to change these ways in agreement with the board to move work along in a quicker fashion. Lee is also willing to meet every deadline strictly if the board agrees.
Lee further clarified their criteria for these buildings, saying that they only put structures on their list of dangerous buildings if they have catastrophic failures or the potential of a catastrophic failure. There is a list readily available on the City of Bolivar website that contains every structure in the city with violations that anybody can view, and that the community is encouraged to report violations that they believe should be looked into.
