Documented Incident
Columbia County sheriff opens Flock transparency portal after cameras bought without supervisors' knowledge
Event: August 18, 2025 · First reported: August 27, 2026 · 3 sources
The Columbia County, New York, Sheriff's Office launched a Flock Safety transparency portal and published its ALPR policy after Sheriff Jackie Salvatore disclosed at an Aug. 18 Public Safety Committee meeting that the office had purchased 10 cameras without the county Board of Supervisors' knowledge. The portal lists 11 cameras, one more than the number Salvatore cited at the meeting; the location of the additional camera was not immediately clear. Salvatore said the cameras capture license plates rather than faces, that searches require a stated law enforcement reason, that two employees audit the data, and that information is never shared with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The episode illustrates how surveillance technology can be acquired without review by an elected county legislative body, and how vendor-provided transparency portals — which Flock says number more than 1,500 nationwide — function as the primary public disclosure mechanism in such cases.
Key facts
- Sheriff Salvatore disclosed the purchase of 10 Flock cameras at an Aug. 18 meeting of the Board of Supervisors' Public Safety Committee, saying the board had not known about it.
- The transparency portal launched Wednesday lists 11 cameras, contradicting the sheriff's figure of 10.
- The portal reported 75 alerts over a 30-day span: 59 tied to stolen plates or vehicles, 11 to outstanding warrants, and three to suspected gang members or terrorists.
- Camera locations in Germantown, Elizaville, Greenport, Craryville, Stottville, Ghent, Valatie and New Lebanon are listed on the crowd-sourced site deflock.org, which Salvatore pointed to as a reference.
- Salvatore said the cameras helped deputies intercept a man believed to be suicidal near the Rip Van Winkle Bridge within about six minutes.
Sources
This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.
- Columbia County sheriff launches Flock camera transparency portal (Dailygazette.com, August 27, 2026)
- Columbia County Sheriff Office & Flock Surveillance Cameras | Hudsonvalley360 . com (dailygazette.com, August 27, 2026)
- Columbia Co. Sheriff launches Flock camera transparency portal (Wnyt.com Newschannel 13, August 26, 2026)
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About this record
BlockFlockNow documents reported incidents involving Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers: council votes, contract decisions, misuse by authorized users, lawsuits, audits, and community response. Every record is reviewed by a person before publication. New to the topic? Start with What is Flock?, find meetings near you, or learn how to request your town's camera records.
Updated August 27, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.