--- title: "Crowd of Angry Citizens Loses It After City Council Fast-Tracks Resolution on Flock AI Cameras" description: "Throngs of community members leapt to their seats in protest after an unpopular decision by local officials to rubber-stamp a resolution." date: "2026-09-23" modified: "2026-09-23" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins.md" url: "https://futurism.com/future-society/flock-alpr-surveillance-crowd-angry-springfield-missouri" categories: - "Future Society" - "Privacy" --- # Crowd of Angry Citizens Loses It After City Council Fast-Tracks Resolution on Flock AI Cameras ![A photo illustration of Flock cameras.]() *Shutterstock / Futurism* A crowd of anxious community members in Springfield, Missouri turned downright hostile on Monday, leaping to their feet after city council members rubber-stamped a resolution around Flock surveillance cameras. Footage published by [local channel *KY3*]() captured the moment counselors voted 5-3 to send the resolution on Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs) to the city's planning committee, functionally bypassing any chance at a public hearing. The audience [immediately turned hostile]() following the vote, with throngs of attendees screaming out at the top of their lungs as they filed out of the meeting hall in protest. "Worthless!" one unidentified community member bellowed before storming off. "What I'm trying to do is get people answers to some real question that they've brought to us for months," said councilman Brandon Jenson, one of the councilmembers who tried to open the floor for public comment. "It's a shame that it comes down to this sort of, I guess, theater... to try and help get those answers — this isn't how government is supposed to run." "It's just disappointing," Jenson continued. "And we're not even allowing the folks to speak who clearly came out to share their voices tonight." The ultimate fate of the resolution is still up in the air. If passed, it would mandate a review of the city police department's use of ALPRs, which have become [rife with abuse]() by other law enforcement agencies throughout the United States. "It just makes me wonder where we're trying to go if something as straightforward as this gets referred to a policy committee to be shelved until who knows when," Isaac Protiva, an organizer with the anti-ALPR group [Flock Out SGF]() told *KY3* after the hearing. "It just makes me question where this city goes and honestly makes me question how much I want to invest in this city as a young person that moved here from deeper in the Ozarks," Protiva continued. **More on Flock:** *[Trump Throws His Weight Behind Flock Cameras]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()