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We'll now call this meeting to order before we take roll. Just for the public to know, we do have nine commissioners seated tonight, and I'm going to read a portion of a memorandum that was sent to me by Phil Smith, Phil Goldsmith, our legal council, to give explanation to Mr. Benikey's commissioner, Benikey's taking his seat tonight. And it was dated September 1, dear chairman, Venzel on Wednesday, August 26, 2026 at 1.30 p.m., the honorable Carol Koonke heard oral argument from

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From council of record, I mark grants request for summary disposition pursuant to MCR 2.116 C10.

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Monroe County and the Monroe County Board of Commissioners request for summary disposition pursuant to MCR 2.116 I2.

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And intervener Dale Benicke's request for summary disposition pursuant to MCR 2.116 I2.

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At the conclusion of oral argument, Judge Kunkie announced her decision from the bench as follows.

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Judge Kunkie granted a Monroe County and the Monroe County Board of Commissioners' motion for summary disposition

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Requested pursuant to MCR 2.11612

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Judge Kunkie granted Dale Panicke's motion for summary disposition requested a pursuant to MCR 2.116

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Judge Kunkie denied Mark Brant's motion for summary disposition requested pursuant to MCR 2.116

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Judge Kunky essentially held an decision that Mark Brant was not a qualified elector on thus not a registered voter on January 1, 2025, which was the date he was to take office as Monroe County Commissioner representing district two.

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Judge Kunky held that Mark Brant was not a qualified elector due to his imprisonment and a federal prison located in the state of West Virginia.

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Given Judge Kunkie's decision, Mark Brant did not fulfill the requirements of MCL 46.411 to hold office, hold the office of county commissioner serving district two.

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Judge Kunkie declared that Dale Benicke is the district two Monroe County commissioner and that effective immediately.

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Dale Benicke shall take the seat and perform the functions of Monroe County commissioner serving district two.

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So I'd like to welcome Dale Benickey on the dice as our representative for district two.

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Thank you.

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Now we can proceed with roll call.

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Commissioner Hoffman.

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President.

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Commissioner Benickey.

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President.

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Commissioner Asper.

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President.

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Commissioner Heinzeling.

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President.

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Commissioner Lamor.

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President.

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Commissioner Venzel.

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President.

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Commissioner Swardow.

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President.

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Commissioner Moore.

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President.

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Commissioner Levens.

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President.

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If we were now all raised for the pledge of allegiance led by Commissioner Leavins.

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Under God in the visible liberty and justice for all.

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We'll now have our opening prayer.

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Eternal Father, blessed be your matchless name.

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Your word says that all things work together for the good of those who love you and to those who are called according to your purpose.

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God we love you and we gather to carry out the task that you have given us in order to fulfill our purposes.

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I pray that you intervene in this meeting, let it work for our good and for the good of your kingdom.

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In your glorious name, we pray this, amen.

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Amen, amen.

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Next item, the agenda is the approval of the agenda, if I could get a motion, please.

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So moved, moved by more, supported by Lamor, any questions on the approval of the agenda.

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Hearing none, roll call, please.

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Commissioner Benniki.

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Yes.

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Commissioner Asper.

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Yes.

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Commissioner Heinzeling.

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Yes.

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Commissioner Lamor.

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Yes.

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Yes.

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Commissioner Vendel.

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Yes.

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Commissioner Swardau.

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Yes.

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Commissioner Moore.

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Yes.

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Commissioner Leavins.

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Yes.

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Commissioner Hoffman.

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Yes.

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Motion carries.

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The next item is the approval of the minutes from the August 18th, 2026 regular meeting.

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If I could get a motion, please.

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I'll make the motion.

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Move by Swardau.

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I'll slide the readings.

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Ported by Hoffman.

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Are there questions, corrections, additions to the minutes?

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Hearing none, roll call, please.

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Commissioner Hoffman.

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Yes.

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Commissioner Bennicki.

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Yes.

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Yes. Commissioner Asper. Yes. Commissioner Heindling. Yes. Commissioner Lamor. Yes. Commissioner Venzel. Yes. Commissioner Swardout. Yes. Commissioner Moore. Yes. Commissioner Lee Vence. Yes. Motion carries.

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We now enter into our first segment of public comment. Are there citizens who wish to address the board?

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I

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can even do chairman in the board.

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My name is Michael Davis and I'm a retired lieutenant from the Sheriff's Office in Monroe County where I spent 30 years.

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I'm a graduate of the FBI National Academy at Quantico, Virginia.

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I hold a bad chance of duty in criminal justice from Wayne State University.

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Currently I hold a top secret clearance at a background investigation in the Department of Homeland Security.

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So I think I know a little bit about what we're going to talk about tonight and that's the

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flat camera system.

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Lacing plate readers have been around for 20 years.

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We used to have mounted on the patrol cars.

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It's nothing new.

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Flat cameras does not mean that we are in a camera society.

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We are in a camera society.

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Video doorbells, your neighbor, Scott has bring camera most definitely shining on your house.

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He knows when you're coming, when you're going, who's visiting you, and what goes on.

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Are we going to do away with ring cameras because they can violate our constitutional rights?

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You can't go anywhere.

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You can't go to the grocery store.

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You can't go to a pharmacy, restaurant, hospital, school, shopping center or parking lot.

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You're on camera.

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And these cameras are taken, you're faced, okay?

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In every one of your movements, movements.

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Crime

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happens. First thing people say, did you check the cameras?

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Did you check our camera? I might have something on my video ring cameras.

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Floch cameras are just another investigative tool. They identify vehicles

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and place and place, traveling on public highways.

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They do not replace police officers, detective witnesses,

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probable cause, or good old fashioned police work. They simply provide a set of eyes.

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And there's evidence that those eyes are providing results.

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Okay, 10,000 missing people were found in one year with flat cameras.

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That's 10,000.

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Okay.

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Now let's bring it home to Monroe County.

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And I know, I hate bringing this up, but on May 24, 2009,

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Nivea Buchanan disappeared from her yard on North McCollum Street.

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They had two vehicles that they were looking for that was possibly involved in it.

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Could you imagine if we had flocked cameras there, we may have been able to find her before

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she was buried alive and encased in concrete.

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In a personal case, I know myself, okay, is Gayle Northington who disappeared on a white

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for township.

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We knew where vehicle, we just didn't know where it was.

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us. We were able to convict somebody on two counts of murder in sensitive life without

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parole, but we were never able to find her body for the family. And that goes back to

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1987.

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We know we got the anniversary of 9-11 coming up. Okay. There are terrorists in

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this country. They're called sleepers cells. And that goes back 40 years that sleepers

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do you know what a sleeper cell is? On the board? No, okay. A sleeper cell is a group

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of people who come into the United States and they plan terrorist attacks, like 9-11.

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If it's going to happen again, it's when it's going to happen again.

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And we want to be able to, if we get a suspect vehicle or get called and say, this vehicle

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might be traveling to your county, we want to be able to locate that before they do

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anything.

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It makes common sense.

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And I agree, okay, there are people that I have abused that system, 50 that we know of

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out of 700,000 police officers, okay.

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So what's the percentage of that?

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I

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just want people to think about, and I'll tell you, if somebody violates that within

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the Murrow County Sheriff's Department, they should go to jail.

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I agree.

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There needs to be control, there needs to be auditing, and there needs to be bumper rails

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on it.

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But don't do away with something that's going to possibly protect everybody here probably

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has children or grandchildren, correct? If somebody kidnapped them, anybody in this room

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who has children or grandchildren? If somebody kidnapped them, when did you want that

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tool to be able to find and locate them? It's just common sense.

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Don't throw the baby out

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with a dishwasher or bath water. Please reconsider it. And if you are going to push this through,

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I think it should be put to a vote of the citizens within Monroe County, not just a decision made by nine people.

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I think that's right, that's our Constitutional right to vote on something that might protect us.

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I just want to say, please take it under consideration before you make that move and

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think of what the benefits are and not some political issue that people are trying to make.

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Thank you.

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Mr. Chairman, I think it might be a good idea just to remind anyone public speaking that for our policy and Robert's rules

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we refrain from a back and forth dialogue. It's not that we don't want to answer you. It's just that we can't.

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But I'd be more than happy to talk to you after the meeting might.

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Thank you, Mr. Moore.

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Good evening, Mr. Chair, commissioners. My name's Carol Riem. I live in Dundee.

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I am a property owner in this county. I am not against law enforcement.

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I am here because recording every passing car is not ordinary policy, it is mass surveillance.

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I ask you to adopt the resolution of firming constitutional privacy,

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and terminating flock safety cameras in similar mass surveillance technology.

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These cameras do not wait for suspicion.

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They log the innocent plate, time, place, vehicle,

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and that file lives on a vendor network.

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other agencies can search. In the 18th century Jeremy Bentham designed the

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Panopticon, a prison where inmates never knew when they were being watched. We

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are not convicted criminals, we are law-abiding citizens going about our

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daily lives. A county plate grid treats innocent people on public roads as if they

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were inmates. This data does not stay here. It can be stored, shared, aggregated,

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including through large data systems until it is useful for

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profiling ordinary residents.

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Not a single investigation based on reasonable cause.

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The public has seen how government and private surveillance can be abused.

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Trust us then, we are looking to you to do the right thing.

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In Nundee, flat builder police department's $17,560 for

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for four cameras in year one, more than double the $8,000 annual cost that was cited to the public.

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Dundee's own department policy system and

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flock data are the property of the Dundee Police Department.

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Yet, residents are told the records belong to the company.

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This is the same claim now in our court in Genesine County.

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If this county uses the system, this county is responsible for ending it.

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Benjamin Franklin wrote,

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Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety

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Please vote yes terminate flock do not replace it with another brand that does the same thing

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warrantless tracking of everyone who drives here is not safety

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It is control and this board can stop it by adopting the resolution tonight. Thank you

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Good evening. I'm attorney Matt, but until

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I want to practice here in the city of Monroe

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I've been practicing here in Monroe for the last 18 years.

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Speaking in some support of Commissioner Leven's proposal to ban mass surveillance with flock and flock like technologies in Monroe County.

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Like all of you, I took an oath to uphold and defend our state and US constitutions, and I'm here speaking in service to that oath.

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Flot cameras threaten privacy. They invite abuse and they undermine our constitutional rights.

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Imagine every time you drive anywhere the government uses cameras to record your license plate

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in location. It doesn't matter where. It can be to work, the doctor's office, a gun show,

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church, a political gathering, or even a friend's house. And that is the world flot camera networks

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are creating.

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Flock markets its cameras as crime-fighting tools, and yes, they can help police solve

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crimes.

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But the question before...

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Forest is not whether surveillance can ever be useful. But rather, should we discontinue building

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and using a system that records and tracks the movements of innocent everyday Americans?

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The Fourth Amendment protects Americans against unreasonable searches and seizures, and Michigan's

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constitution goes even further than that. It protects against the seizure of electronic and

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electronic communications from unreasonable searches and seizures, and it implements a warrant

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and probable cause requirement.

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The evidence over the last two years should concern every citizen across Monroe County and in this room.

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Researchers from the University of Washington in 2025 analyzed flock audit records and

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found numerous law enforcement agencies shared camera networks and databases with outside agencies without telling their local governments.

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even more troubling the audits revealed that the flock networks of other police departments were compromised by outside agencies conducting

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worthless searches despite the fact that they've never been authorized to do so. These aren't theoretical abuses. They're actual audit trails.

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And the problem is still ongoing, even though flock acknowledged the problem in 2025. At first they denied it and they later admitted it.

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now the problem you just probably read this summer in Lucas County Ohio, county commissioners

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discovered that there were over 900,000 searches in their flock system ranging as far as

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Texas and California. Those places were accessing their data over a period of two months without

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any authorization. Now, proponents of flock want you to focus narrowly on flock's crime fighting

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capabilities. The problem is is that there is no evidence that flock cameras lower crime rates.

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The flock system is rife with errors and abuses in 2026 and Texas and investigator found

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that there was one officer who conducted over 45,000 flock searches illegally between May 2024

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and December 2025. Another investigation in Georgia just this year showed that there was a flock,

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a legal flock searches that were done by a police officer to stock his

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external friend and her romantic partner. He attempted to disguise the searches

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as legitimate investigations. Increasingly, these abuses are coming to light.

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And many local governments are being faced with the reality that when those searches

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happen, they're invading people's rights. It's not innocent. And also the flock

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system is flawed. There are errors that the system itself sometimes confuses numbers

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like eights with threes or threes with eights or twos with sevens or confuses abbreviations

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with states like Ohio for Oklahoma or Michigan for Massachusetts or Minnesota.

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And local governments are increasingly facing that reality. And that reality is that innocent people

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sometimes are detained, sometimes at gunpoint, are rested and charged based on a computer error

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or a camera misidentification.

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And flock cameras had misidentified cars and license places

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highest 71% of the time.

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Another audit shows that flock cameras targeted or tagged

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hundreds of cars stolen when they weren't.

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And in Florida, one woman was arrested and served 13 days in jail

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based on a baseless allegation.

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It was a misidentification through the flock system that targeted her car.

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And then she faced those that criminal suspicion for seven months

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before prosecutors realize the error and dismiss the charges.

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On top of that, automated license plate readers can read bumper stickers.

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And if they can read bumper stickers, they can read t-shirts.

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And if they can read t-shirts, they can read signs.

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And anything else that crosses their field of view.

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And that information is gathered and made searchable by AI.

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And anyone with a login can access it.

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Let that sink in.

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I'm here, like I said, in support of Mr. Leven's proposal, and I hope you vote yes, thank you.

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Good evening.

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00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:20,750
My name is Pat Kirby, I'm from Idaho, and here to talk about the flock cameras.

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This year, there's been 10,000 missing people located, 42% of stolen vehicles have been recovered.

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and one in five who was picked up and thought to be a criminal was cleared of the crime because of the plot camera.

255
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The CEO of Flock, who's the one that invented this, I guess, was on a news program last week.

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And I watched the entire thing and they are making a lot of changes.

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and the information that people are concerned about is going to be staying in

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the the sanity of where those cameras are at. So that information is supposed to

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be staying there and there's a lot of other changes to where they're not going

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to maintain the data for so long at time. I think it's seven days now instead of

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I think it was 30 before.

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People say that they invade privacy.

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If you walk down any street, a ring door bell,

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or security cameras is watching you.

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Any store that you enter, there's security cameras.

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You are being seen daily already.

267
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Look at your cell phones, your computers, your smart TVs,

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these Alexa, all of those issues are following you and knowing what's going on.

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And if you're not doing anything wrong, why should it matter to you?

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Well, it shouldn't.

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It's a greatest asset to the law enforcement along with drones, which I also support.

272
00:21:23,950 --> 00:21:34,030
I'll tell you something, at 7 a.m. on 94 in Bellville, there was a hidden run.

273
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She left that area and someway ended up in the Sal area.

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She was on a pleasant road.

275
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She caused a woman almost to be hit that was running.

276
00:21:52,250 --> 00:22:02,130
She turned onto Dunbar, ran a car into the ditch, and there was someone following her as she turned

277
00:22:02,130 --> 00:22:11,570
on to South Dixie into Monroe Street. They lost the car in traffic when traffic got between them,

278
00:22:11,570 --> 00:22:20,990
and they lost it on 2nd Street, and the car proceeded on into front street to M50.

279
00:22:21,910 --> 00:22:26,650
We ran the red light when people were stopped and went off the side of the road.

280
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At 80 mile an hour, this is at 8 o'clock in the morning drunk.

281
00:22:35,070 --> 00:22:40,890
The car was traveling 80. She ran the red light at South Raisinville Road,

282
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crashed into the animal control truck, killing officer Deary and young, my

283
00:22:50,010 --> 00:22:57,730
granddaughter. I'm pretty confident if cameras had been available in June of

284
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20, Deary and would probably be alive today because somebody would have

285
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been able to catch up with her. They could not find her. So before I

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00:23:10,390 --> 00:23:17,990
decision is made on this that resolution that you're thinking about, please think about

287
00:23:17,990 --> 00:23:23,670
what changes are coming and check into that, what changes are being made to that before

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00:23:23,670 --> 00:23:31,690
you make the stressed decision. Because it is a matter of life and death, especially with

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drunk drivers on the road and all the crime that is out there now, the shootings and everything,

290
00:23:37,790 --> 00:23:41,690
it's happening here, it's happening all over.

291
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Thank you for your consideration.

292
00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:54,260
My name's Chris Wakeup.

293
00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:58,340
Here because the conversation about flock cameras,

294
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this isn't about technology.

295
00:24:00,140 --> 00:24:01,660
It's about our rights, our freedom,

296
00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,040
and the limits we place on government power.

297
00:24:05,060 --> 00:24:06,800
Flot cameras don't simply take pictures.

298
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They track, store, and analyze the movements

299
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of every vehicle that passes them.

300
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They log license plates, time stamps,

301
00:24:13,300 --> 00:24:15,620
and the other examples, travel patterns and location history.

302
00:24:16,020 --> 00:24:19,160
That is surveillance, not simple observation.

303
00:24:20,540 --> 00:24:23,080
And under the Constitution, surveillance of citizens

304
00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:26,040
is supposed to require probable cause, a warrant,

305
00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:30,480
and not a subscription fee and a handshake with a private company.

306
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For generations, we've had a clear rule.

307
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If the government wants to track you, follow you, or collect detailed information about you,

308
00:24:37,460 --> 00:24:40,200
about your movements, they need to convince a judge first.

309
00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:45,680
That safeguard isn't a technicality, it's the barrier that protects ordinary people from

310
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being monitored simply because we exist.

311
00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:54,080
But flat cameras flip that principle upside down, they gather information first on everyone

312
00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:57,940
all the time, only afterwards decide who to look at.

313
00:24:58,360 --> 00:25:03,700
That is a definition of dragnet surveillance, and it is exactly what the Fourth Amendment

314
00:25:03,700 --> 00:25:04,920
was written to prevent.

315
00:25:05,580 --> 00:25:09,900
Some people say, if you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about.

316
00:25:09,900 --> 00:25:14,500
But let me ask you, if you say you have nothing to worry about, who's definition of wrong

317
00:25:14,500 --> 00:25:15,200
or we're using?

318
00:25:17,740 --> 00:25:21,340
History shows us that wrong changes depending on who's in charge.

319
00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:25,040
Rights don't exist to protect people who are popular or convenient.

320
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They exist to protect everyone, especially when the government's definition of wrong shifts.

321
00:25:31,260 --> 00:25:35,980
And let's be honest, once a system like this is in place, it rarely stays limited.

322
00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:39,200
Data gets shared and monetized.

323
00:25:41,370 --> 00:25:47,150
Access expands, policies change, what starts as just for stolen cars becomes just for traffic

324
00:25:47,150 --> 00:25:51,350
enforcement, then just for mind and frame protests, then just in case.

325
00:25:52,150 --> 00:25:56,130
We've seen this pattern with every surveillance technology introduced in the last 30 years.

326
00:25:56,770 --> 00:25:59,070
We are not here because we oppose law enforcement.

327
00:25:59,570 --> 00:26:02,690
We are here because we support the constitutional law enforcement.

328
00:26:03,130 --> 00:26:08,130
The kind that respects due process, warrants, and the ideas that should citizens should

329
00:26:08,130 --> 00:26:12,070
not be tracked without cause. If the government wants the level of information

330
00:26:12,070 --> 00:26:16,230
flat cameras provide, they should follow the same rules they've always had to follow.

331
00:26:16,490 --> 00:26:20,190
Show probable cause, get a warrant, then collect the data,

332
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not the other way around. Our rights don't disappear because

333
00:26:23,950 --> 00:26:28,310
technology got faster. Our freedoms don't shrink because our valence got cheaper

334
00:26:28,310 --> 00:26:32,790
and our privacy shouldn't be surrendered just because a company promises convenience.

335
00:26:33,730 --> 00:26:37,030
Tonight I'm asking this commission to stand on the side of the Constitution.

336
00:26:37,550 --> 00:26:47,590
stand on the side of due process, and stand on the side of the people who live here, work here, and raise families here, and deserve to move through their own community without being tracked.

337
00:26:48,170 --> 00:26:48,670
Thank you.

338
00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:05,220
Hi, everybody. My name is Susie. I live here in Monroe County. I want to make a couple of points. I know we're trying to keep our comments brief.

339
00:27:05,220 --> 00:27:10,200
But the first point is I have a tremendous respect for all of you, for our sheriff, for

340
00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:11,100
our law enforcement.

341
00:27:11,740 --> 00:27:17,240
You're all tasked with that thankless job of protecting us when we often shirk our

342
00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:22,940
own responsibility to be responsible for ourselves with resiliency and common sense.

343
00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:31,640
However, despite that being a difficult job, you do not have a free pass to overstep your

344
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limited authorities.

345
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As a government entity you are actually not allowed to trade our freedoms, our God given

346
00:27:42,120 --> 00:27:46,120
inalienable rights for an easier job.

347
00:27:47,260 --> 00:27:52,580
Private citizens that might be a different situation, corporations, ring cameras, that's

348
00:27:52,580 --> 00:27:56,180
not a government entity and that's a big distinction.

349
00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:02,480
This trade comes with many grave consequences and again with brevity I'm just going to pick

350
00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:09,660
out one of them. Slippery slope, right? We cannot allow our government to impose itself

351
00:28:10,190 --> 00:28:17,040
in our private spaces to gain access to our private information or to perform warrantless searches.

352
00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:24,460
They can't do that. We can't trade that for crumbs of safety, of convenience, right?

353
00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:28,640
There's a reason a government is limited in our country. It needs to stay that way.

354
00:28:29,420 --> 00:28:32,460
Today, we do have flat cameras in our county.

355
00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:34,760
Their locations are not made public.

356
00:28:35,220 --> 00:28:39,860
They are reading our license plates, and they are pinpointing us to specific locations

357
00:28:39,860 --> 00:28:42,280
at specific times without our consent.

358
00:28:43,620 --> 00:28:50,480
This data is fed into a cloud that is searchable by actors outside of Monroe County, including

359
00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:58,000
Flot company, state actors, federal actors, potentially hackers, foreign governments, right?

360
00:28:59,060 --> 00:29:02,900
You have mitigations, and you can have the best policies in the world, and I'm very

361
00:29:02,900 --> 00:29:03,740
confident you do.

362
00:29:03,900 --> 00:29:06,820
I think we have a very good team here, I really do.

363
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:12,080
But you have zero control on the actors outside of Monroe County.

364
00:29:13,460 --> 00:29:17,540
You can have mitigations, but hackers are going to get past your firewalls, no matter what

365
00:29:17,540 --> 00:29:17,920
you do.

366
00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:25,180
our private data is too valuable. The incentive to analyze it and sell it is

367
00:29:25,180 --> 00:29:29,940
massive and it's just going to keep going. That's the slippery slope I'm

368
00:29:29,940 --> 00:29:34,880
talking about. I don't want us to be the ones building the foundation for a

369
00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:40,040
surveillance blanket that we cannot get out of later. You have to really take

370
00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:40,800
that seriously.

371
00:29:45,350 --> 00:29:48,590
And it's more than just our license plates, right? The tech is

372
00:29:48,590 --> 00:29:53,990
already rolling out the ability to scrape our phones and to pull data out of our devices.

373
00:29:54,630 --> 00:29:57,910
They're incredibly sophisticated at face recognition.

374
00:29:58,650 --> 00:29:59,970
This is a slippery slope.

375
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:29,340
It's just going to keep getting better. We think we're just going to find a stolen vehicle and some missing children and I understand living in that fear, but we cannot give the government the ability to survey all citizens, all Americans, all people at all times. We have to draw a line. We're supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, but we already have cases of people being accused and being put in jail, as was mentioned earlier.

376
00:30:29,340 --> 00:30:36,940
indemed guilty until or if we can prove ourselves innocence. As individuals we're

377
00:30:36,940 --> 00:30:41,640
an arms race. We have to collect our own data and outdo the government just

378
00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:46,240
to prove our innocence. So we've kind of flipped it around and we have to be very

379
00:30:47,300 --> 00:30:53,480
conscious of that. It's a slippery slope and unfortunately slippery slopes do

380
00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:58,920
not stop naturally. They only stop when we intentionally stop them and set

381
00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:04,200
boundaries. And that is the reason why our government and our country is limited, and

382
00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:05,600
that's a pretty special thing.

383
00:31:08,810 --> 00:31:13,490
Okay, so it's a value of freedom and limitation. We only

384
00:31:13,490 --> 00:31:19,910
get that intentionally. So at the end of the day, none of you here actually have the

385
00:31:19,910 --> 00:31:25,850
authority to trample on our God-given and alienable rights, even if it makes someone's job safer

386
00:31:25,850 --> 00:31:28,530
and even if it makes us safer and easier.

387
00:31:29,730 --> 00:31:34,330
The surveillance blanket is attempting in short-sighted band-aid,

388
00:31:34,690 --> 00:31:37,750
but it only makes all of us less safe in the long run,

389
00:31:37,750 --> 00:31:39,270
and we have to keep that in mind.

390
00:31:39,990 --> 00:31:42,770
So I'm asking you all to respect your constituents

391
00:31:43,310 --> 00:31:45,770
and accept this resolution to dismantle

392
00:31:45,770 --> 00:31:47,790
and prevent the surveillance blanket.

393
00:31:48,350 --> 00:31:52,050
And I also ask all of us constituents on the flip side

394
00:31:52,050 --> 00:31:54,890
because I want to recognize this.

395
00:31:54,890 --> 00:31:57,950
Yes, we all need to accept responsibility as well.

396
00:31:58,390 --> 00:31:59,750
We have to use common sense.

397
00:32:00,250 --> 00:32:02,090
We have to build our own resiliency.

398
00:32:02,270 --> 00:32:06,590
We have to work together on these solutions and they're not the band-aid solutions of just

399
00:32:06,590 --> 00:32:08,850
putting more and more surveillance on us.

400
00:32:09,510 --> 00:32:14,230
We do have to vote for politicians that are going to keep criminals in jail and keep boys

401
00:32:14,230 --> 00:32:17,210
out of the girls' locker rooms and all the things.

402
00:32:18,170 --> 00:32:22,530
But the band-aid fix at the end of the day of a surveillance state is not the answer and

403
00:32:22,530 --> 00:32:23,910
I hope you all recognize that.

404
00:32:23,910 --> 00:32:24,590
Thank you.

405
00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:37,500
Hi.

406
00:32:37,860 --> 00:32:39,320
My name is Kim Jarmall.

407
00:32:39,820 --> 00:32:41,740
I'm a lifelong resident in Monroe County.

408
00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:43,240
Mostly LaSalle.

409
00:32:43,420 --> 00:32:45,760
Up until three years ago I decided to move to French town.

410
00:32:46,460 --> 00:32:50,200
And I'm here today to ask you to protect the Constitution.

411
00:32:50,940 --> 00:32:52,600
It's under attack more than ever.

412
00:32:53,260 --> 00:32:56,440
It's the most important responsibility you'll ever have.

413
00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:00,100
It's because it's our freedom.

414
00:33:01,300 --> 00:33:06,600
I believe every public servant should have to not only take an oath, but they should also

415
00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:09,880
will take a class on the Constitution and citizens' rights.

416
00:33:11,060 --> 00:33:16,940
I realize this when several of my own rights were violated by French town supervisor Al

417
00:33:16,940 --> 00:33:23,900
Van Washingtonova and by public safety director, Dave Ull, during best petitioning.

418
00:33:25,300 --> 00:33:30,340
I won't speak in detail about it because it's in litigation except to say I realize then

419
00:33:30,340 --> 00:33:34,700
how little some public servants are aware of the constitutional rights of citizens.

420
00:33:35,500 --> 00:33:41,780
I originally asked for an acknowledgement that what they did to me was wrong in for an apology, but I didn't get that.

421
00:33:42,660 --> 00:33:45,900
Simple. I just wanted it to be recognized. I didn't get that.

422
00:33:46,740 --> 00:33:53,860
So I had to take action. And it's not about money. I don't even ask for monetary value.

423
00:33:54,900 --> 00:33:59,180
It's about setting president. So it doesn't happen to another citizen.

424
00:33:59,180 --> 00:34:04,700
I am asking you to take action here today to set President yourself.

425
00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:07,600
It is not okay to violate citizens' rights.

426
00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:10,980
Clearly, flock violate citizens' rights.

427
00:34:11,780 --> 00:34:13,200
It's the opposite of freedom.

428
00:34:13,780 --> 00:34:14,900
It's mass surveillance.

429
00:34:15,640 --> 00:34:17,060
It's different than ring cameras.

430
00:34:17,060 --> 00:34:19,120
The ring camera doesn't track me every time I drive by.

431
00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:19,960
I'm sorry.

432
00:34:20,260 --> 00:34:20,720
Mine doesn't.

433
00:34:20,820 --> 00:34:21,620
Yours can't possibly.

434
00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:23,000
It's totally different.

435
00:34:23,540 --> 00:34:27,520
It's an invasion on our civil rights, our constitutional rights.

436
00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:33,060
The Constitution allows us to have a democratic government where the people choose.

437
00:34:33,740 --> 00:34:37,580
It limits governments control and allows the people individual rights.

438
00:34:38,420 --> 00:34:40,880
My favorite president Ronald Reagan said it best.

439
00:34:41,720 --> 00:34:46,840
Our Constitution isn't government telling people what their privileges are.

440
00:34:47,380 --> 00:34:51,760
Our Constitution is we the people telling our government what it can do.

441
00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:57,520
Today, we, the people, are here to tell you, protect our Constitution.

442
00:34:58,240 --> 00:34:59,780
We don't want flock.

443
00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:01,840
We definitely don't want drones.

444
00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:02,800
Good God.

445
00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:06,380
It's up to the state whether or not those are weapon-rised.

446
00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:11,620
I'd hate to be sitting on my patio and get pinged by rubber bullets or tasers.

447
00:35:12,380 --> 00:35:15,480
It is not the FAA only tracks the flight path.

448
00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:18,940
It's up to the state level on whether or not the weaponized.

449
00:35:18,940 --> 00:35:21,800
I don't know about you guys, but I don't trust our governor right now.

450
00:35:22,260 --> 00:35:25,160
She'd rather just lay us all out, honest to God.

451
00:35:28,850 --> 00:35:36,170
So we realize the third advantage is benefits, but anytime something violates constitutional

452
00:35:36,170 --> 00:35:38,650
rights, it should be a hard no.

453
00:35:41,860 --> 00:35:44,380
We the people will not allow our rights to be violated.

454
00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:46,820
Please protect the Constitution.

455
00:35:47,340 --> 00:35:53,220
Set President yourself here today by saying it will no longer be allowed to happen to

456
00:35:53,220 --> 00:35:54,340
Monroe County residents.

457
00:35:54,960 --> 00:36:00,760
Monroe County citizens saved them from having to fight for their basic rights.

458
00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:02,400
We deserve our basic rights.

459
00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:03,740
Thank you.

460
00:36:12,340 --> 00:36:13,340
Hi, my name is Alana.

461
00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:16,980
I've lived in Monroe basically my whole life.

462
00:36:17,720 --> 00:36:21,800
Never once thought I would have to fight for my constitutional rights.

463
00:36:22,580 --> 00:36:27,960
But this year we actually celebrated the 250th birthday of the United States.

464
00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:31,920
And I have we feel that we have forgotten the principles it was built on.

465
00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:35,820
Those core principles are natural rights, popular sovereignty,

466
00:36:36,180 --> 00:36:39,580
limited government, and the separation of power and the rule of law.

467
00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:52,300
Let me remind you, limited government is the principle that government power must be restrained by law and the Constitution to prevent tyranny and protect the individual freedom.

468
00:36:52,300 --> 00:36:57,500
The Constitution was created to limit the power of the government and protect the rights of the people.

469
00:36:58,300 --> 00:37:08,960
Flock has admitted that its ALPR system does produce a heat map that shows where point in time images have been captured of a vehicle up to a month.

470
00:37:09,420 --> 00:37:18,140
I know that he has changed it to seven days, but when you're going in front of that camera every single day, that seven days still carries over.

471
00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:23,660
information that is shared city to city and even state to state without a warrant.

472
00:37:23,940 --> 00:37:26,600
There is no legislation governing this technology.

473
00:37:26,960 --> 00:37:34,900
Flot company has also reflects a pattern of regularly misleading or even lying about its business practices.

474
00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:42,420
Safety records, commitment to privacy and effort to protect vulnerable populations.

475
00:37:42,420 --> 00:37:53,420
because they are putting these in lower income populations too which is actually basically targeting them.

476
00:37:53,820 --> 00:37:56,940
Not to mention the vial person that started the company in the first place.

477
00:37:57,700 --> 00:38:06,640
Right now both class action lawsuits and civil right cases are at an all time high due to personal stocking unauthorized access and illegal monitoring.

478
00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:10,720
Through proponents of the system, claim to help fight crime,

479
00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:15,660
retrieve stolen vehicles and finding missing children, these things were possible before,

480
00:38:16,100 --> 00:38:19,700
with appropriate human constitutional policing.

481
00:38:20,700 --> 00:38:26,000
No policy or technology will ever, ever eliminate tragedies from our lives completely.

482
00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:30,940
Therefore, we should never give up our basic liberties out of fear.

483
00:38:30,940 --> 00:38:37,920
The idea that there is no expectation of privacy in public is an oversimplification of our Fourth Amendment law.

484
00:38:38,510 --> 00:38:44,400
The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that while individual observation in public may be permissible,

485
00:38:45,220 --> 00:38:52,660
long-term automated and aggregate surveillance by the government can violate the Fourth Amendment because it

486
00:38:52,660 --> 00:38:55,940
reveals far more than any officer can observe on their own.

487
00:38:55,940 --> 00:39:01,640
Automated license plate tracking creates a search when it builds a detailed record of

488
00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:05,540
a person's movements, habits, associations, and daily life.

489
00:39:06,500 --> 00:39:11,120
That's exactly the kind of pervasive monitoring courts warned us about.

490
00:39:11,860 --> 00:39:15,800
Safeguards do not eliminate our constitutional concerns.

491
00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:21,400
They just acknowledge that the system is dangerous enough to require them.

492
00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:22,440
They

493
00:39:24,720 --> 00:39:31,500
allow the government to monitor everyone's movements without individualized suspicion, a warrant or probable cause.

494
00:39:31,880 --> 00:39:33,560
The contract needs to be terminated.

495
00:39:34,020 --> 00:39:36,900
Technology and AI are only getting more advanced.

496
00:39:37,320 --> 00:39:43,900
Every act against our constitutional rights gives another opportunity to take more and more of our rights away.

497
00:39:44,640 --> 00:39:51,640
To implement facial recognition, voice recording, et cetera, private citizens do not need to be tracked or

498
00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:53,140
monitored by public servants.

499
00:39:53,980 --> 00:39:58,380
And those who are arguing you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide.

500
00:39:58,780 --> 00:40:03,000
Is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say.

501
00:40:03,560 --> 00:40:09,080
So I hope to God that you take away this contract and terminate flock.

502
00:40:09,420 --> 00:40:10,180
Thank you so much.

503
00:40:16,910 --> 00:40:19,150
Hi, my name is Shauna Farley district four.

504
00:40:19,550 --> 00:40:22,170
Jay is my county commissioner and I must say this really quick.

505
00:40:22,170 --> 00:40:24,650
The very first time I came here, he's shaken scared.

506
00:40:24,650 --> 00:40:30,650
He took time to sit back there with me and tell me that it's great that we are speaking as a community

507
00:40:30,650 --> 00:40:38,770
And I am so excited to see everybody here. I had to say that. I didn't want to read, but I'm afraid of missing out on something

508
00:40:41,110 --> 00:40:50,450
Local officials taken off to uphold the US and Michigan constitutions. I assume that that meant constitutional issues were always front and center

509
00:40:50,450 --> 00:40:54,170
But I think there's a communication gap between residents and boards.

510
00:40:54,970 --> 00:40:59,910
When a proposal touches a constitutional right, like the Sheriff's Flock and Drone Program,

511
00:41:00,410 --> 00:41:04,690
there should be something that flags those gray areas as red.

512
00:41:05,270 --> 00:41:09,230
As a man of law, people trust law enforcement, respect and comply.

513
00:41:10,110 --> 00:41:14,630
We assume that the local boards have already checked the constitutional concerns.

514
00:41:14,630 --> 00:41:20,070
In this case, those concerns were not great in my opinion, they were read.

515
00:41:20,810 --> 00:41:24,710
And I want you also to say, we might respect our sheriff, but sheriff's change.

516
00:41:25,530 --> 00:41:26,790
Different ones get voted in.

517
00:41:27,330 --> 00:41:31,350
And sometimes the next sheriff doesn't have our best interest, and we need to remember that.

518
00:41:33,370 --> 00:41:39,430
So I think I believe boards benefit from hearing oppositional viewpoints and outside expertise.

519
00:41:39,430 --> 00:41:49,590
groups like the ACLU could have gave you some, you know, some inner scene. And even my local

520
00:41:49,590 --> 00:41:56,330
trustee, I seen who was over here, Chris Collins said, hey, I can't vote on this. I will

521
00:41:56,330 --> 00:42:01,950
always be a no. This is our Constitution. And I just see these people with powerful feelings.

522
00:42:01,950 --> 00:42:07,850
And I wish that maybe an ACLU, maybe these people were standing there and maybe when something's

523
00:42:07,850 --> 00:42:14,870
considered gray and it might hurt your constituents, or the residents of your community, you stop and you say what's the opposition?

524
00:42:15,050 --> 00:42:18,410
Maybe they'll come and talk to me and I can understand their point of view.

525
00:42:20,630 --> 00:42:26,730
So the good outweighs the bad, which that is an opinion, not a constitutional review.

526
00:42:27,310 --> 00:42:31,010
Flock has no independent research and requests for it to be denied.

527
00:42:31,390 --> 00:42:36,830
If I hadn't attended a board meeting, this drone program might have passed without a single question.

528
00:42:36,830 --> 00:42:44,750
but several residents stood up immediately without knowing that this was on the agenda and said it crossed constitutional lines.

529
00:42:45,630 --> 00:42:47,730
Regular people saw it that way.

530
00:42:48,630 --> 00:42:51,810
Unfortunately my board did say the good outweighs the bad.

531
00:42:52,450 --> 00:42:57,390
We had a trustee though, like I said, who also saw the gray area and he stopped.

532
00:42:58,270 --> 00:43:05,830
The sheriff later announced the updates to the flag program, short of data retention audit tools and these code encased codes.

533
00:43:05,830 --> 00:43:08,850
These are improvements, but they don't fix the core issue.

534
00:43:09,570 --> 00:43:11,510
We need the gray areas to be table.

535
00:43:12,110 --> 00:43:14,670
We need opposition or errors from experts.

536
00:43:15,250 --> 00:43:19,650
I wish we had a button that when you put this in your agenda,

537
00:43:20,010 --> 00:43:22,670
you put it in there and it would flag it was tabled.

538
00:43:22,830 --> 00:43:24,470
Opposition must be present.

539
00:43:25,090 --> 00:43:25,770
But that's a dream.

540
00:43:26,990 --> 00:43:31,470
I stand with no flock, no drone, nor surveillance in my choice.

541
00:43:31,470 --> 00:43:37,790
And it drives me wild to say, well, I have nothing to hide when they're all over because

542
00:43:37,790 --> 00:43:38,990
this is the way it stands.

543
00:43:38,990 --> 00:43:42,190
There are plenty of us that would leave our phones home because we feel like.

544
00:43:42,630 --> 00:43:45,990
I mean, I know Jim DeSanis says he unbugs things that night.

545
00:43:46,890 --> 00:43:49,990
I mean, it's not uncommon for a person to make it a choice.

546
00:43:50,350 --> 00:43:52,250
No, I'm not going to use this device.

547
00:43:53,130 --> 00:43:59,490
And if they see a flag or different programs being used at their grocery store, they can choose

548
00:43:59,490 --> 00:44:00,770
to not shop there.

549
00:44:01,650 --> 00:44:04,510
But what we can't choose is when you put it up

550
00:44:04,510 --> 00:44:06,070
and let a sheriff drive it.

551
00:44:06,630 --> 00:44:08,190
And I'm not saying anything about them,

552
00:44:08,330 --> 00:44:10,810
but I'm saying there are good, there are bad,

553
00:44:11,030 --> 00:44:12,250
and the people need to come first,

554
00:44:12,370 --> 00:44:13,990
and that's why we have a constitution.

555
00:44:16,190 --> 00:44:20,970
So I wanted to say there is a way to beat these loopholes,

556
00:44:21,010 --> 00:44:23,130
there's loopholes with the system he is discussing.

557
00:44:23,390 --> 00:44:24,730
And the ones that they just fixed,

558
00:44:24,970 --> 00:44:28,650
I did bring them up at our public informational

559
00:44:28,650 --> 00:44:34,990
in French town. And I'm really sad because the people brought up these issues. And they were,

560
00:44:35,230 --> 00:44:41,610
I mean, they were hit down or they were said, I'll look at and see what my IT guy says. And others

561
00:44:41,610 --> 00:44:47,890
were, I have integrity. I would be the first to hold them responsible. And we're still not dealing

562
00:44:47,890 --> 00:44:55,090
with the loopholes here. If something is suspected, they can make it hold for a little while longer.

563
00:44:55,090 --> 00:44:59,970
And the way I see it, the way I see it, maybe this part might be wrong is...

564
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:24,320
I could probably go to a factory that I don't like, or maybe I think something's going on there. I just saw a child go in there to hide. What's my rights? You know, I feel like there's loopholes that we do have. And that is why people should be listened to. First and foremost, it should be a stop when it's our constitution being called into play. And people deserve the choice to be watched or not. Thank you for your time.

565
00:45:32,530 --> 00:45:35,590
Good evening commission. My name is John Manor.

566
00:45:35,590 --> 00:45:39,010
I'm the supervisor for Monroe Charter Township.

567
00:45:39,210 --> 00:45:42,570
I represent approximately 15,000 residents in the county.

568
00:45:43,650 --> 00:45:46,270
We've heard some pretty impassioned please tonight.

569
00:45:46,510 --> 00:45:48,850
I think the discussion on both sides of this issue

570
00:45:48,850 --> 00:45:51,590
have been very strong and I think given

571
00:45:51,590 --> 00:45:55,210
with very well intending individuals.

572
00:45:55,770 --> 00:45:59,570
I said when I sat down, I felt like the things that needed

573
00:45:59,570 --> 00:46:00,810
to be said were being said.

574
00:46:01,190 --> 00:46:04,450
I just wish that we knew what the entire county

575
00:46:04,450 --> 00:46:05,770
of Monroe would like us to do.

576
00:46:06,310 --> 00:46:09,130
As a representative of the township,

577
00:46:09,710 --> 00:46:13,610
I would love to see this board consider a ballot-wide proposal

578
00:46:13,610 --> 00:46:15,890
that not only encompasses the flock systems,

579
00:46:16,110 --> 00:46:19,410
but also the incoming drone systems as well.

580
00:46:19,990 --> 00:46:23,510
I think by knowing what the county as a whole would like us to do,

581
00:46:23,810 --> 00:46:25,810
one, it helps us sleep better at night knowing

582
00:46:25,810 --> 00:46:28,130
that we actually fulfilled the will of the people

583
00:46:28,130 --> 00:46:30,410
and did what our voters wanted us to do

584
00:46:30,410 --> 00:46:31,810
in the residents of our community,

585
00:46:31,810 --> 00:46:37,830
and also that we didn't limit the scope of what we were looking at just to the folks who were able to come out tonight.

586
00:46:38,190 --> 00:46:42,070
So I would encourage the commission to consider this and

587
00:46:42,070 --> 00:46:48,290
prayerfully think about what you're doing tonight and if it makes more sense to move for a ballot proposal at the next vote,

588
00:46:48,450 --> 00:46:51,070
I think everybody gets a chance to say their piece.

589
00:46:51,450 --> 00:46:51,810
Thank you.

590
00:47:00,980 --> 00:47:03,280
Hello, my name is Haley, I'm a citizen of Monroe.

591
00:47:04,320 --> 00:47:06,880
A simple question I would like to ask everyone in this room.

592
00:47:06,880 --> 00:47:12,460
Would you like anybody, especially the United States federal government, to have video access

593
00:47:12,460 --> 00:47:16,400
watching your everyday life, habits, movements, and whereabouts?

594
00:47:16,900 --> 00:47:21,020
While flat cameras are being pitched as simple license plate readers, the reality is that

595
00:47:21,020 --> 00:47:26,840
these devices have the full capability to record and store unlimited data while using AI scanning

596
00:47:26,840 --> 00:47:28,140
to retract that information.

597
00:47:28,760 --> 00:47:35,960
This can and has already led to false alert police encounters, unlawful arrests, and camera

598
00:47:35,960 --> 00:47:39,160
misreads due to both AI and accuracy and human error.

599
00:47:39,700 --> 00:47:45,820
Not to mention, there have been at least 70 documented instances of police officials

600
00:47:45,820 --> 00:47:48,220
abusing this technology illegally nationwide.

601
00:47:48,800 --> 00:47:54,440
The company that owns Flock sells this data to local and federal agencies for profit while

602
00:47:54,440 --> 00:47:56,940
our privacy is exploited against our will.

603
00:47:57,940 --> 00:48:02,180
Flock camera contracts are being canceled throughout the country and over 200 cities thus far.

604
00:48:02,180 --> 00:48:10,160
I encourage every individual to form a coherent thought on black cameras and what they're really doing to benefit the community as a whole.

605
00:48:10,640 --> 00:48:15,860
There is no conclusive evidence that these devices have decreased crime rates in any form.

606
00:48:16,500 --> 00:48:22,500
You do not have to be a politician or a scholar to speak up, this involves you and everyone around you.

607
00:48:23,100 --> 00:48:29,060
Do not let people convince you that you do not have a voice, these are your rights being violated and your tax dollars are paying for this.

608
00:48:29,060 --> 00:48:33,640
take a stand and don't let mass surveillance take over our daily lives. Talk to

609
00:48:33,640 --> 00:48:38,480
friends, family, neighbors, and representatives about the dangers of ALPR

610
00:48:38,480 --> 00:48:42,380
monitoring. I propose Monroe County and their contract with Flock

611
00:48:42,380 --> 00:48:44,980
and turns the cameras off for good. Thank you.

612
00:48:52,370 --> 00:48:54,090
Hello, my name's Kyle. I'm a Monroe

613
00:48:54,090 --> 00:48:59,890
Charter Township resident. So it's cool that my representative was here. This

614
00:48:59,890 --> 00:49:04,450
affects all of us though. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. When

615
00:49:04,450 --> 00:49:07,410
When you put Mentos in a bottle of Coke, it starts to bubble up.

616
00:49:07,930 --> 00:49:11,870
When your government sells its citizens out to master valence in tech companies, the

617
00:49:11,870 --> 00:49:12,910
people get effervescent.

618
00:49:13,630 --> 00:49:18,690
Flock safety is building a warrantless tracking system that violates our rights and privacy.

619
00:49:19,290 --> 00:49:21,490
Our elected officials have allowed this to happen.

620
00:49:22,270 --> 00:49:26,310
Tonight, you all have the opportunity to do something about it.

621
00:49:26,710 --> 00:49:31,990
We live in a world where a billion-dollar high-tech artificial intelligence camera company has

622
00:49:31,990 --> 00:49:36,130
As convinced, our local elected officials to give them over half a million dollars in

623
00:49:36,130 --> 00:49:37,550
taxpayer money so far.

624
00:49:38,030 --> 00:49:40,730
And what sort of awesome perks do we get in exchange?

625
00:49:42,110 --> 00:49:44,250
An AI-powered surveillance state.

626
00:49:44,850 --> 00:49:50,230
Flux safety monitors, tracks, records, and categorizes everything it captures.

627
00:49:51,200 --> 00:49:56,890
It's AI-powered software packages that information into a program that they then sell to our government.

628
00:49:56,890 --> 00:50:02,670
and our law enforcement officials use these programs so far to yes find

629
00:50:02,670 --> 00:50:07,710
submissing people but also stock abuse and harass innocent members of the

630
00:50:07,710 --> 00:50:13,630
community. Unfortunately our leaders to this point have bought what flock is

631
00:50:13,630 --> 00:50:18,550
selling. When flock cameras record data must be stored somewhere. When an AI

632
00:50:18,550 --> 00:50:23,810
system is trained it must have access to data. Every action has an equal and

633
00:50:23,810 --> 00:50:28,970
opposite reaction. Has anyone wonder why data centers are invading our community?

634
00:50:29,270 --> 00:50:34,590
Is it for us? Or is it for companies like Flock's Axon and Palantir? When

635
00:50:34,590 --> 00:50:39,630
billion-dollar corporations want something, they find a way to get it. Flock AI and

636
00:50:39,630 --> 00:50:43,570
data centers are all connected and are a part of the same ecosystem being sold to

637
00:50:43,570 --> 00:50:48,290
our government, which is looting the taxpayer and subsidizing billionaires at the

638
00:50:48,290 --> 00:50:53,070
expense of our constitutional rights and freedom. This is especially concerning if

639
00:50:53,070 --> 00:50:57,270
If you want to live under a repressive government that every day violates the Constitution and

640
00:50:57,270 --> 00:50:58,470
Minister of National Law.

641
00:50:58,990 --> 00:51:04,410
When you put Mentos in a bottle of Coke and put the lid on, pressure builds.

642
00:51:05,230 --> 00:51:08,050
To stop the inevitable, you must remove the lid.

643
00:51:09,110 --> 00:51:13,990
And we are expressing to you tonight our feelings, this is the bubbling up.

644
00:51:14,310 --> 00:51:15,050
This is the pressure.

645
00:51:16,270 --> 00:51:20,150
And tonight, the Mentos are already in the Coke.

646
00:51:20,150 --> 00:51:24,730
The lit has already been screwed on and tonight you're voting on it whether or not you want to take the lit off

647
00:51:24,730 --> 00:51:30,950
To allow the pressure to settle and to give us a chance to go back to some semblance of normal

648
00:51:32,070 --> 00:51:33,170
That's your choice

649
00:51:33,870 --> 00:51:38,190
Every option has an equal and opposite reaction. Thank you

650
00:51:40,110 --> 00:51:43,390
Both yes on that thing is what I'm here for

651
00:51:53,670 --> 00:51:59,890
My name is Colt I am a resident of four years of Lucas County and I have worked here in Monroe County for only

652
00:51:59,910 --> 00:52:05,250
most as long. I come today to urge the board members and my fellow working class members

653
00:52:05,250 --> 00:52:11,090
alike to adopt and fully support the resolution of firming constitutional privacy and terminating

654
00:52:11,090 --> 00:52:15,230
the use of flock safety cameras and similar mass vehicle surveillance technology.

655
00:52:16,110 --> 00:52:21,070
For anyone unaware, there has been an extensive public discourse on the installation of flock

656
00:52:21,070 --> 00:52:25,850
cameras, specifically on La Pleasant's road and in other high traffic areas that bring

657
00:52:25,850 --> 00:52:30,090
this city and the rest of the county, a lot of business, that is essential for local success.

658
00:52:30,990 --> 00:52:34,170
There are many people who are no longer willing to travel to the Pleasants Road,

659
00:52:34,310 --> 00:52:39,410
in other popular commercial areas in Monroe, due to the growing presence of flock in the county

660
00:52:39,410 --> 00:52:43,410
and growing public awareness of the potential privacy violations they bring.

661
00:52:44,650 --> 00:52:50,770
In my own city, Toledo, our county commissioner Pete Girkin has called for a pause and audit of

662
00:52:50,770 --> 00:52:56,730
the Lucas County systems for after routine audit brought to light over 900,000 searches

663
00:52:56,730 --> 00:53:04,130
of our local flock database from June 20th, 2026 to July 20th, 2026, spanning 3,200

664
00:53:04,130 --> 00:53:10,330
outside law enforcement agencies, over 90,000 of which came from Texas, with 71,000 from

665
00:53:10,330 --> 00:53:15,250
Houston County, 10,000 from Harris County, and 13,000 from Texas DPS alone.

666
00:53:16,090 --> 00:53:22,190
Shortly after Pete Girkens announcement, the Sheriff's Office offered a band-aid solution

667
00:53:22,190 --> 00:53:27,090
claiming to implement a policy and procedure that would have stricter processes for allowing

668
00:53:27,090 --> 00:53:32,590
Lucas County police officers to access their systems and claim that they will now have a manual

669
00:53:32,590 --> 00:53:37,130
approval process for the nearly one million a month outside requests that they receive.

670
00:53:38,310 --> 00:53:44,530
With 188 incidents reported through the Institute of Justice's database for ALPR abuse and

671
00:53:44,530 --> 00:53:51,110
In just 55 of those cases being stalking cases, ending in officers being fired or charged.

672
00:53:51,710 --> 00:53:55,610
These are just the cases where the abuse was discovered and the perpetrators recommended.

673
00:53:56,170 --> 00:54:01,250
There are sure to be more cases currently under investigation and countless more that haven't been discovered yet.

674
00:54:02,130 --> 00:54:08,330
As of yet, there are no reported cases of abuse in Michigan and one case from Ohio in early 2026.

675
00:54:09,070 --> 00:54:12,370
Do not allow for this community to vault victim to these abuses.

676
00:54:12,370 --> 00:54:27,510
do not allow for half-baked fixes to very serious security and privacy concerns to be the only way that this community can stop privately owned surveillance from spying on every person who lives here, wants to shop or visit this beautiful county.

677
00:54:28,090 --> 00:54:31,950
Instead adopt a resolution and protect the constitutional right to privacy.

678
00:54:32,510 --> 00:54:33,350
Thank you very much.

679
00:54:40,340 --> 00:54:48,520
Susan again, I thought of a few more things I thought I would just real quick get up here that I'm hearing that I think our understood us want to kind of state obvious.

680
00:54:50,000 --> 00:54:55,960
As tempting as it is, we just have to be careful we don't make this decision with our emotion of fear.

681
00:54:56,900 --> 00:55:05,060
After 9-11 we adopted that Patriot Act out of fear and at the time it seemed to make sense it made us feel safer.

682
00:55:05,060 --> 00:55:09,100
But it is drastically expanded since then, right?

683
00:55:09,320 --> 00:55:14,580
And if the ratchet only goes one way, look at during COVID,

684
00:55:14,820 --> 00:55:17,500
we had this incredible fear about a virus,

685
00:55:17,500 --> 00:55:20,680
and we ended up with police officers arresting people

686
00:55:20,680 --> 00:55:22,120
at the beach in some cases.

687
00:55:22,400 --> 00:55:24,500
We had schools shutting down.

688
00:55:24,620 --> 00:55:26,840
We had OSHA weaponized threatening people

689
00:55:26,840 --> 00:55:28,760
to lose their jobs if they didn't comply.

690
00:55:29,360 --> 00:55:34,300
So we know government can drastically overstep its power.

691
00:55:34,300 --> 00:55:38,760
or even when it's with good intentions, but it's done out of fear, and we just have to

692
00:55:38,760 --> 00:55:39,740
be careful of that.

693
00:55:40,160 --> 00:55:44,940
After World War II, I was just reading a case for 30 years, apparently, our government

694
00:55:44,940 --> 00:55:47,960
was spying on our communications, and we didn't even know about it.

695
00:55:48,000 --> 00:55:50,260
It was finally stopped in the 60s.

696
00:55:51,580 --> 00:55:53,900
I'm sure this is beyond America, right?

697
00:55:54,020 --> 00:55:57,100
Through all of human history, government has tried to do that.

698
00:55:57,240 --> 00:55:58,460
So we just have to be careful.

699
00:55:58,620 --> 00:56:00,620
I urge all of you to accept this resolution.

700
00:56:01,300 --> 00:56:11,820
I know, on some cases, this system is going to make us safer and make our jobs easier, but we can't let that tip the whole...

701
00:56:11,820 --> 00:56:19,120
We can't let that put us in a position where we just continue to tear apart and chip away at our constitutional rights.

702
00:56:20,520 --> 00:56:29,200
I don't really think any of you have the authority to do this anyways, but even if you think you did, I still urge you to accept this resolution and make sure it goes away.

703
00:56:29,200 --> 00:56:30,680
So that's all I say. Thanks.

704
00:56:37,750 --> 00:56:44,790
Good evening commissioners. My name is David Udbridge and I live in the city of Monroe and in district six of the county.

705
00:56:45,730 --> 00:56:53,730
I'm here on behalf of myself. I'm not taking sides with anybody in the audience or haven't been asked to say anything by anybody in the audience.

706
00:56:53,730 --> 00:56:56,830
I'm just a simple man with a simple story.

707
00:56:59,070 --> 00:57:13,610
on April 21st of this year, I stood right here to thank the commissioners for passing a resolution naming May 10th through 16th, 20th, 20th, 26th as police week in Monroe County.

708
00:57:14,350 --> 00:57:25,730
And your show of support for the men and women of law enforcement in Monroe County who courageously show up every day, not knowing whether they'll go home to their loved ones at the end of their shift was inspiring.

709
00:57:25,730 --> 00:57:33,710
in, greatly appreciated. Now, I'm standing in the same place to call into question the

710
00:57:33,710 --> 00:57:38,130
genuineness of your support for law enforcement in our county. As you consider this resolution

711
00:57:38,130 --> 00:57:43,630
to ban the use of automated license plate reader technology in our county, you're citing

712
00:57:44,350 --> 00:57:50,690
without any supporting evidence, constitutional privacy concerns, surveillance overreach,

713
00:57:50,690 --> 00:57:57,710
data retention risks. So let's talk about the privacy concerns. License plates are

714
00:57:57,710 --> 00:58:05,050
legally exposed on public roadways, meaning there is no constitutional expectation of privacy

715
00:58:05,050 --> 00:58:13,090
regarding their visibility. Automated license plate reader technology strictly captures vehicles

716
00:58:13,090 --> 00:58:20,490
and their license plates rather than individual or facial features serving as an objective

717
00:58:20,490 --> 00:58:23,410
digital witness without invading personal privacy.

718
00:58:24,790 --> 00:58:31,030
As far as surveillance overreach, law enforcement officers cannot browse the data freely and must

719
00:58:31,030 --> 00:58:38,450
input a specific documented case number to run a search and the case is cited tonight

720
00:58:38,450 --> 00:58:45,150
from outside our area of law enforcement officers have abused the system only

721
00:58:45,150 --> 00:58:51,350
served to prove that when they do they're caught, they're disciplined, and in many

722
00:58:51,350 --> 00:58:59,650
cases they're prosecuted for that. When we believe that flock cameras are

723
00:58:59,650 --> 00:59:07,010
tracking citizens, the system remains passive until it's triggered by a vehicle

724
00:59:07,010 --> 00:59:13,210
will explicitly listed on a national or local hot list, such as a stolen car, a vehicle

725
00:59:13,210 --> 00:59:18,730
identified in connection with a particular crime, a vehicle tied to an amber alert, and

726
00:59:18,730 --> 00:59:23,970
contrary to the internet conspiracy theorists, these cameras do not issue red light tickets,

727
00:59:24,530 --> 00:59:26,950
and they do not issue speeding tickets.

728
00:59:28,150 --> 00:59:33,630
As far as data retention is concerned, all the captured data is protected by strict encryption,

729
00:59:33,630 --> 00:59:39,750
and a standard contract with FLOC calls for the automatic deletion of data on a rolling

730
00:59:39,750 --> 00:59:47,650
seven-day window recently reduced from 30 days unless flagged as evidence for an active

731
00:59:47,650 --> 00:59:48,490
investigation.

732
00:59:48,650 --> 00:59:54,010
However here in Monroe County, the sheriff had already modified this contract with FLOC to

733
00:59:54,010 --> 00:59:57,870
shorten that data retention window to seven days rather than 30.

734
00:59:57,870 --> 00:59:59,850
Now this shorter time

735
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:06,520
Line ensures the majority of data is permanently erased from the secure cloud network, minimizing

736
01:00:06,520 --> 01:00:13,460
security vulnerabilities and opportunities for misuse, along with other strict security

737
01:00:13,460 --> 01:00:20,260
measures that have been adopted. I could go on, but let me simply conclude with this.

738
01:00:20,990 --> 01:00:27,970
You purport to support law enforcement. Yet you clandestinely created this ill-advised and

739
01:00:27,970 --> 01:00:34,370
court cited resolution without ever consulting the chief law enforcement officer of the county

740
01:00:35,270 --> 01:00:39,190
prior to announcing that this resolution was being considered on tonight's agenda.

741
01:00:39,830 --> 01:00:44,570
You have absolutely no evidence of abuse of the system within Monroe County, and

742
01:00:44,570 --> 01:00:48,450
you have no knowledge of the very specific cases which have been effectively and

743
01:00:48,450 --> 01:00:53,210
efficiently solved with the use of this technology in Monroe County.

744
01:00:53,850 --> 01:00:58,970
I understand that for some of you your mind is already made up and you just don't want

745
01:00:58,970 --> 01:01:00,310
to be confused by the facts.

746
01:01:01,310 --> 01:01:08,070
I would urge you to put your ego aside and do some actual fact finding, which I am confident

747
01:01:08,070 --> 01:01:15,550
would lead you to more informed, reasonable, and sustainable position on this matter.

748
01:01:16,290 --> 01:01:22,430
And as a final statement, I would just like to concur with what Mr. Manner said that this

749
01:01:22,430 --> 01:01:25,430
should be something that if a decision is going to be made,

750
01:01:25,610 --> 01:01:28,810
should be made by the people of Monroe County.

751
01:01:29,250 --> 01:01:29,810
Thank you.

752
01:01:39,030 --> 01:01:39,890
Well, good evening.

753
01:01:40,130 --> 01:01:41,910
My name is Pamela Hess and I'm coming to you

754
01:01:41,910 --> 01:01:43,230
from Beautiful Temperance, Michigan.

755
01:01:44,230 --> 01:01:47,030
I actually do have some data to offset

756
01:01:47,030 --> 01:01:49,450
the last speaker's information.

757
01:01:52,170 --> 01:01:55,750
Sorry, I like data and I have a feeling that

758
01:01:55,750 --> 01:01:57,570
a lot of people in this room here like data as well.

759
01:01:58,330 --> 01:02:05,890
There was a case recently in Fluegerville, Texas, and if you decide to look it up, it begins

760
01:02:05,890 --> 01:02:15,330
with a P, it's a silent P. This town had flat cameras and ALRPs in their town. They gave,

761
01:02:15,790 --> 01:02:24,010
let's see, they gave, I believe, 83 agencies access to their flat camera information and their data.

762
01:02:24,010 --> 01:02:33,910
What ended up happening was there were 459 outside law enforcement agencies that were able to access this data.

763
01:02:34,550 --> 01:02:44,450
It was shown that 1.6 million searches were made in this data system from those outside agencies.

764
01:02:44,450 --> 01:02:54,390
5,078 searches were from the authorized sources for that data.

765
01:02:56,610 --> 01:03:09,290
So to me, that says way more people have access to the residents of Fluegerville, Texas's data than should be allowed.

766
01:03:10,250 --> 01:03:12,850
that is just one case, that is just one city.

767
01:03:13,650 --> 01:03:17,790
However, until we get all of the great areas finalized

768
01:03:17,790 --> 01:03:23,330
and legally set, we should be rejecting

769
01:03:23,330 --> 01:03:27,210
flat cameras and ALRPs in our town.

770
01:03:28,010 --> 01:03:30,070
I have a little bit more data.

771
01:03:32,410 --> 01:03:34,790
It's a little bit more closer to home.

772
01:03:35,290 --> 01:03:37,350
According to publicly available data,

773
01:03:37,350 --> 01:03:44,950
the Monroe County Sheriff's Office conducted 10,849 searches of flock cameras in the last three years.

774
01:03:45,890 --> 01:03:53,850
75% of those searches are redacted. In fact, Monroe County Sheriff's Office has conducted nearly

775
01:03:53,850 --> 01:04:03,070
4,000 searches since December of 2025. All of these records, all of them are redacted. As of December

776
01:04:03,070 --> 01:04:10,350
For 2025, FLOx systems now hide or redact users and the reason for search by default.

777
01:04:11,410 --> 01:04:15,650
Monroe County does have a policy for conducting audits of FLOx searches.

778
01:04:16,310 --> 01:04:22,390
Once a year, someone in the department will review a minimum of 10 random searches.

779
01:04:22,390 --> 01:04:33,510
that is a quarter of 1% of the 10,000 that have been done.

780
01:04:35,550 --> 01:04:40,170
In none of the annual reports are any of the audits discussed or released.

781
01:04:40,810 --> 01:04:46,590
For reference, here are some of the reason for search listed by various members

782
01:04:46,590 --> 01:04:47,670
of our Sheriff's Department.

783
01:04:48,590 --> 01:04:52,050
L-I-B or Lib, take that as you want.

784
01:04:53,010 --> 01:04:58,490
T-E-F-T-W-A-N-T, image download,

785
01:04:58,990 --> 01:05:05,310
Suss, P-O-I, suspicious, S, and T-S.

786
01:05:05,770 --> 01:05:08,130
You'll notice that none of these are actual crimes.

787
01:05:09,190 --> 01:05:12,710
Last Wednesday, August 26th, Senator Josh Holly

788
01:05:12,710 --> 01:05:14,930
from Missouri launched an investigation into flock

789
01:05:14,930 --> 01:05:19,910
and as practices. I urge this board to wait to make any changes until after that

790
01:05:19,910 --> 01:05:24,330
investigation is complete. I urge all of the commissioners to cancel all future

791
01:05:24,330 --> 01:05:29,270
contracts with any companies or services that conduct automated surveillance to

792
01:05:29,270 --> 01:05:37,810
remove all ALPRs and to resist state sponsored surveillance. If you choose to

793
01:05:37,810 --> 01:05:42,010
continue contracting with these companies and services, I implore you to use all

794
01:05:42,010 --> 01:05:47,410
your authority possible to regulate the use of these surveillance services and to force a

795
01:05:47,410 --> 01:05:53,410
permanent retention of officer use records, publicly share Monroe County Sheriff's Office,

796
01:05:53,950 --> 01:05:59,950
flock audits and audit flock practices and use at least once every quarter so that government

797
01:05:59,950 --> 01:06:04,170
agencies, law enforcement and residents have a way to hold our officials accountable.

798
01:06:04,930 --> 01:06:10,590
Lastly, I would just like to say thank you to the Democratic candidates running for office that

799
01:06:10,590 --> 01:06:16,410
attended Bedford individuals, community picnic last weekend, we were able to feed 55 families

800
01:06:16,410 --> 01:06:21,370
and donated a ton of non-perishable goods to local food banks. Thank you for your time.

801
01:06:31,070 --> 01:06:34,090
Are there any other citizens who wish to make public comments?

802
01:06:38,600 --> 01:06:44,080
Hearing that there are none, we have one final request. This was an email that was sent to

803
01:06:44,080 --> 01:06:50,620
all nine board members and the person by email requested it be read into the record. So I'm

804
01:06:50,620 --> 01:06:54,380
I'm going to ask our great-smiles to move it into the record.

805
01:06:55,680 --> 01:06:59,980
Dear Chairman Venzel, Vice Chairman Lamor, and members of the Monroe County Board of Commissioners.

806
01:07:00,480 --> 01:07:04,700
I write in strong support of the proposed resolution of firming constitutional privacy and

807
01:07:04,700 --> 01:07:09,160
terminating use of Fox 80 cameras in similar mass vehicle surveillance technology.

808
01:07:09,720 --> 01:07:14,520
I offer this support from my perspective as a criminologist, educator, researcher, and

809
01:07:14,520 --> 01:07:17,600
long-time advocate for evidence-based criminal justice policy.

810
01:07:17,600 --> 01:07:23,620
The central question before the board is not whether technology can make some law enforcement tasks easier.

811
01:07:24,320 --> 01:07:30,920
Flock safety cameras and other automated license plate readers systems unquestionably can scan large numbers of license plates,

812
01:07:31,380 --> 01:07:35,020
identify vehicles appearing on hot list and provide investigative leads.

813
01:07:35,600 --> 01:07:39,620
The more important public policy question is whether creating a persistent surveillance infrastructure

814
01:07:39,620 --> 01:07:44,100
that records the movements of thousands of people who are not suspected of criminal activity,

815
01:07:44,100 --> 01:07:49,600
produces sufficient public safety benefits to justify its fiscal, constitutional, and social costs.

816
01:07:50,420 --> 01:07:57,120
The available criminological evidence does not establish that broad ALPR deployment produces

817
01:07:57,120 --> 01:08:02,200
the kind of substantial generalized crime reduction that would justify this level of surveillance.

818
01:08:02,860 --> 01:08:07,480
Research funded by the National Institute of Justice has demonstrated that license plate readers

819
01:08:07,480 --> 01:08:12,040
can substantially increase the number of license plates checked and can improve the identification

820
01:08:12,040 --> 01:08:13,520
and recovery of stolen vehicles.

821
01:08:14,080 --> 01:08:16,360
Tailor, copper, and woods from 2011.

822
01:08:17,480 --> 01:08:19,300
For example, found sustainability,

823
01:08:19,860 --> 01:08:21,680
more plates scanned, hitch-generated,

824
01:08:21,820 --> 01:08:24,060
and stolen vehicles recovering through LPR use.

825
01:08:24,620 --> 01:08:27,480
Those findings demonstrate a specific investigative capability,

826
01:08:28,000 --> 01:08:29,640
but they should not be confused with evidence

827
01:08:29,640 --> 01:08:31,780
that mass vehicle surveillance, meaningfully,

828
01:08:31,940 --> 01:08:33,160
reduces overall crime.

829
01:08:34,260 --> 01:08:37,160
Other experimental research provides reason for caution.

830
01:08:37,600 --> 01:08:40,820
LUM, Hibden, Cave, Copper, and Marola from 2011,

831
01:08:41,760 --> 01:08:45,840
experimentally evaluated LPR equipped patrols in crime hotspots.

832
01:08:46,300 --> 01:08:50,440
More recent research examining weather license plate readers enhanced the deterrent

833
01:08:50,440 --> 01:08:55,460
effects of police patrol similarly found that although LPR used increased stolen vehicle

834
01:08:55,460 --> 01:08:59,420
recoveries, it did not increase arrests and did not produce measurable improvements in

835
01:08:59,420 --> 01:09:02,960
either the immediate or residual deterrent effects of police patrol.

836
01:09:03,640 --> 01:09:07,320
Researchers concluded that there was little evidence supporting the general crime prevention

837
01:09:07,320 --> 01:09:09,540
efficiency of LPR equipped patrol,

838
01:09:09,860 --> 01:09:11,400
Cooper at all 2022.

839
01:09:12,540 --> 01:09:15,540
That distinction matters enormously for Monroe County.

840
01:09:16,080 --> 01:09:19,600
Technology can make a particular investigative activity faster without

841
01:09:19,600 --> 01:09:23,280
meaningfully increasing the overall capacity of law enforcement to prevent crime,

842
01:09:23,740 --> 01:09:27,380
solve serious offenses, build community trust, or improve public safety.

843
01:09:27,900 --> 01:09:31,700
Evidence-based policing requires us to distinguish technological capability

844
01:09:31,700 --> 01:09:33,940
from demonstrated public safety effectiveness.

845
01:09:33,940 --> 01:09:37,960
The federal government's own research has expressed similar caution.

846
01:09:38,400 --> 01:09:43,640
The US Government Accountability Office reported in 2025 that while technologies such as automated

847
01:09:43,640 --> 01:09:47,840
license plate readers may provide benefits, assessments of those benefits can be difficult

848
01:09:47,840 --> 01:09:52,820
and the technologies can impose substantial, financial, privacy and civil liberty costs.

849
01:09:53,480 --> 01:10:03,920
The GAO has separately documented that federal law enforcement agencies obtain access to third

850
01:10:03,920 --> 01:10:06,420
and identified deficiencies in privacy and bias

851
01:10:06,420 --> 01:10:09,700
protecting surrounding public space surveillance technologies.

852
01:10:10,380 --> 01:10:12,460
These concerns become particularly significant

853
01:10:12,460 --> 01:10:15,460
when a local camera is no longer merely a local camera.

854
01:10:15,980 --> 01:10:18,880
An interconnected ALPR network potentially transforms

855
01:10:18,880 --> 01:10:20,840
an observation made on a public road

856
01:10:20,840 --> 01:10:22,860
into a searchable historical record.

857
01:10:23,420 --> 01:10:26,540
The proposed resolution correctly identifies this distinction.

858
01:10:26,940 --> 01:10:28,820
The constitutional concern is not simply

859
01:10:28,820 --> 01:10:30,720
what one camera observes at one moment,

860
01:10:31,120 --> 01:10:32,940
but what a network of cameras and databases

861
01:10:32,940 --> 01:10:36,540
cases can reconstruct about an individual movements across time and jurisdictions.

862
01:10:37,140 --> 01:10:41,400
As a criminologist, I believe this represents fundamentally a different form of government

863
01:10:41,400 --> 01:10:44,380
power than traditional observation by an officer on patrol.

864
01:10:45,080 --> 01:10:49,120
The Fourth Amendment was designed to place limits on government surveillance and investigate

865
01:10:49,120 --> 01:10:49,720
authority.

866
01:10:50,340 --> 01:10:54,700
Although the United States Supreme Court has not ruled that every ALPR scan constitutes a

867
01:10:54,700 --> 01:11:00,740
Fourth Amendment search, its reasoning and carper be United States 585 from 2018 should

868
01:11:00,740 --> 01:11:05,620
give policy makers significant reason for caution. A carpenter, the court recognized that

869
01:11:05,620 --> 01:11:09,900
aggregated digital location information can reveal an extraordinarily detailed record

870
01:11:09,900 --> 01:11:14,260
of a person's movements in private life. That principle has direct relevance to the

871
01:11:14,260 --> 01:11:18,620
policy question before this board. Driving on a public road should not automatically mean

872
01:11:18,620 --> 01:11:23,260
consenting to the creation of a government searchable history of once movements. A vehicle

873
01:11:23,260 --> 01:11:27,840
location database can potentially reveal visits to a physician, substance use treatment

874
01:11:27,840 --> 01:11:33,160
provider, attorney, church, political meeting, labor organization, domestic violence shelter,

875
01:11:33,540 --> 01:11:38,760
mental health provider, fire arm retailer, protest, or the home of a friend or an intimate partner.

876
01:11:39,400 --> 01:11:43,280
The Monroe County Resolution specifically recognizes the potential for location histories

877
01:11:43,280 --> 01:11:47,960
to expose visits to houses of worship, political gatherings, medical facilities,

878
01:11:48,320 --> 01:11:51,220
leo offices, schools, shelters, and private residences.

879
01:11:52,400 --> 01:11:56,940
These are not abstract privacy concerns. Surveillance can alter behavior even when no

880
01:11:56,940 --> 01:12:01,160
or rest occur. People who reasonably believe government systems can reconstruct where they travel,

881
01:12:01,400 --> 01:12:05,900
whom they associate with, and work for organizations they visit, may change lawful behavior.

882
01:12:06,540 --> 01:12:10,820
This creates implications extending beyond the Fourth Amendment to freedom of association,

883
01:12:11,220 --> 01:12:16,100
expression, movement, and other fundamental civil liberties. There is also an important problem

884
01:12:16,100 --> 01:12:21,980
with automation bias. Technology carries an aura of neutrality and precision that can cause human

885
01:12:21,980 --> 01:12:26,580
decision-makers to give automated results greater evidentiary weight than they deserve.

886
01:12:27,100 --> 01:12:29,940
An ALPR alert is an investigative lead.

887
01:12:30,160 --> 01:12:33,740
It is not proof that the driver is the registered owner, and the plate was read correctly,

888
01:12:33,940 --> 01:12:37,680
the database information remains current, or that the person operating the vehicle committed an offense.

889
01:12:38,220 --> 01:12:41,560
The proposed resolution appropriately recognizes the distinction and

890
01:12:41,560 --> 01:12:47,120
the danger of escalation when automatic information is accepted without adequate independent verification.

891
01:12:47,120 --> 01:12:53,580
This is particularly important because the consequences of technological errors in policing are not merely administrative.

892
01:12:54,440 --> 01:13:00,600
A false or outdated alert can initiate a vehicle stop, detention, search, arrest, or high-risk encounter.

893
01:13:01,000 --> 01:13:02,880
The cost of these errors are borne by citizens.

894
01:13:03,520 --> 01:13:06,820
The policy question therefore becomes one of proportionality.

895
01:13:07,500 --> 01:13:12,080
Effecting policing does not require collecting as much information as technologically possible.

896
01:13:12,080 --> 01:13:25,400
Effective policing requires deploying limited public resources towards strategies supported by evidence focused on identifiable public safety problems constrained by constitutional principles and accompanied by meaningful public accountability.

897
01:13:25,720 --> 01:13:30,280
I also reject the premise that opposing mass surveillance technology is somehow anti-law enforcement.

898
01:13:30,740 --> 01:13:40,280
It is precisely because law enforcement performs such an important governmental function that policy technology should be held to be rigorous evidentiary in constitutional standards.

899
01:13:40,280 --> 01:13:58,740
Every dollar invested in broad surveillance infrastructure is a dollar that cannot simultaneously be invested in investigators, training, community policing, victim services, violence prevention strategy, behavior health partnerships, forensic capacity, personnel, and other interventions that may provide more direct benefits to the Monroe County residents.

900
01:13:58,740 --> 01:14:02,540
Police legitimacy is itself a public safety resource.

901
01:14:02,840 --> 01:14:05,780
While citizens believe police authority is exercised fairly,

902
01:14:05,980 --> 01:14:07,940
transparently and within recognizable limits,

903
01:14:08,280 --> 01:14:10,940
cooperation and institutional legitimacy are strengthened.

904
01:14:11,420 --> 01:14:14,880
Conversely, technologies perceived as indiscriminative surveillance

905
01:14:14,880 --> 01:14:17,800
can undermine the trust upon which effective policing depends.

906
01:14:18,500 --> 01:14:21,280
For these reasons, I strongly support the resolution's requirement

907
01:14:21,280 --> 01:14:24,580
that any future proposal involving systematic tracking undergo

908
01:14:24,580 --> 01:14:28,120
advance public review, a privacy and civil liberties assessment,

909
01:14:28,120 --> 01:14:32,940
independent examination of accuracy, disclosure of retention, and data sharing practices,

910
01:14:33,340 --> 01:14:34,840
fiscal analysis, and public comment.

911
01:14:35,300 --> 01:14:38,200
That is reasonable governments, governance.

912
01:14:38,720 --> 01:14:42,560
Monroe County does not have to wait for a constitutional violation, major data breach,

913
01:14:42,780 --> 01:14:47,220
wrongful detention, misuse of surveillance information, or costly litigation before deciding

914
01:14:47,220 --> 01:14:48,500
where its boundaries should be.

915
01:14:48,960 --> 01:14:52,920
Local governments possess both the authority and the responsibility to establish standards

916
01:14:52,920 --> 01:14:54,940
that protect residents before harm occurs.

917
01:14:54,940 --> 01:14:59,840
The resolution before you recognizes something fundamental about democratic policing.

918
01:15:00,050 --> 01:15:06,390
Public safety and constitutional liberty are complementary obligations, not competing ones. I therefore respectfully urge

919
01:15:06,390 --> 01:15:11,730
commissioners Hoffman, Asperr, Heineziling, Lamor, Venzel, Swardout, Moore, and Leavins to vote yes on the proposed

920
01:15:11,730 --> 01:15:16,830
resolution and establishment of county as a jurisdiction committed to evidence-based policing, viscous

921
01:15:16,830 --> 01:15:21,690
responsibility, constitutional restraint, transparency, and the protection of individual liberty.

922
01:15:22,510 --> 01:15:27,250
Technology should serve democratic institutions, democratic institutions to never reorganize their

923
01:15:27,250 --> 01:15:29,190
of principles around the capabilities of technology.

924
01:15:29,890 --> 01:15:30,810
Affiliation disclaimer.

925
01:15:31,650 --> 01:15:33,870
I am a faculty member at the University of Michigan.

926
01:15:34,070 --> 01:15:36,990
However, I submit this letter solely in my individual capacity

927
01:15:36,990 --> 01:15:38,990
as a criminologist and private citizen.

928
01:15:39,490 --> 01:15:41,630
The views and opinions expressed herein are up my own

929
01:15:41,630 --> 01:15:43,750
and do not represent, reflect, or imply

930
01:15:43,750 --> 01:15:45,890
the official position, policy, or endorsement

931
01:15:45,890 --> 01:15:47,190
of the University of Michigan

932
01:15:47,190 --> 01:15:49,130
or any of its schools, departments, or units.

933
01:15:49,550 --> 01:15:52,110
Respectfully, Dr. Aaron T. Kenville, criminologist,

934
01:15:52,370 --> 01:15:53,630
resident of Monroe County, Michigan.

935
01:16:07,880 --> 01:16:10,940
Good evening to the board, people of Monroe County and beyond.

936
01:16:11,480 --> 01:16:16,440
My name is Kurt Smith, a citizen and resident of Monroe County, more specifically Berlin Township.

937
01:16:17,220 --> 01:16:20,260
I come before you all to voice my very strong opposition to Fulhawk,

938
01:16:20,620 --> 01:16:23,360
Endrone, and ALPR technology.

939
01:16:24,040 --> 01:16:27,380
And I wholeheartedly believe that we're at a crossroads with our society.

940
01:16:28,040 --> 01:16:34,680
On the one path, we can become more authoritarian with AI-assisted states and surveillance,

941
01:16:34,680 --> 01:16:40,480
and for saking nature with heavy industrialization by also AI,

942
01:16:41,300 --> 01:16:44,620
hyperscale data centers for just one example.

943
01:16:45,520 --> 01:16:50,160
And on the other path, we become the caretakers of both nature and our communities,

944
01:16:50,480 --> 01:16:55,320
where we come together to truly help those that really need it and each other.

945
01:16:55,840 --> 01:17:00,980
We sparking that lost Mayberry effect that seems that has been lost so long ago.

946
01:17:01,560 --> 01:17:04,480
And where we work in harmony with nature rather than against her.

947
01:17:05,120 --> 01:17:07,440
I'm urging the board to listen to your people.

948
01:17:07,780 --> 01:17:10,460
We do not want this and we don't need this.

949
01:17:10,860 --> 01:17:14,680
And make no mistake that they are connected between the data centers and

950
01:17:14,680 --> 01:17:20,960
the AI and these flock and drone technologies and license plate reading technologies.

951
01:17:21,420 --> 01:17:24,000
Thank you for your time and I hope you all have a great rest of your night.

952
01:17:33,640 --> 01:17:36,460
My name's Rebecca Johnson, I'm from French Town Township.

953
01:17:36,940 --> 01:17:38,320
I don't have a prepared statement.

954
01:17:38,520 --> 01:17:40,760
I just found out about this meeting a couple hours ago,

955
01:17:40,960 --> 01:17:43,540
but I definitely couldn't say that I'm against,

956
01:17:44,000 --> 01:17:46,680
or I'm for this proposal as eloquently

957
01:17:46,680 --> 01:17:48,420
as the ones before me have said it.

958
01:17:49,260 --> 01:17:51,180
What I like to say is that something I've observed

959
01:17:51,620 --> 01:17:53,900
is that this is a very eclectic group.

960
01:17:54,220 --> 01:17:58,220
We have a bipartisan group saying that we are all against this

961
01:17:58,220 --> 01:18:01,140
and it is 2026 and we can't agree on anything,

962
01:18:01,400 --> 01:18:03,440
but we can all agree that we do not want to talk.

963
01:18:03,440 --> 01:18:06,640
So please, this is what you're supposed to do.

964
01:18:07,860 --> 01:18:08,340
Hello,

965
01:18:14,630 --> 01:18:15,610
my name is Cody Crutchfield,

966
01:18:15,670 --> 01:18:17,190
resident of French Town, Township.

967
01:18:17,850 --> 01:18:19,530
See, like the last person, I don't believe

968
01:18:19,530 --> 01:18:21,310
that I can speak as eloquently as others,

969
01:18:21,490 --> 01:18:24,270
or give as many informational factoids.

970
01:18:24,670 --> 01:18:27,550
But I do want to say that I am in favor of transparency

971
01:18:27,550 --> 01:18:28,590
when it comes to policing.

972
01:18:28,910 --> 01:18:31,750
I'm afraid that existences of technologies

973
01:18:31,750 --> 01:18:33,650
like these raise too many memories

974
01:18:33,650 --> 01:18:36,750
of phone tapping the 1950s and McCarthyism,

975
01:18:36,750 --> 01:18:39,190
or what's in my own living memory,

976
01:18:39,630 --> 01:18:44,010
the Patriot Act, and sacrificing freedoms for security.

977
01:18:44,890 --> 01:18:47,310
I'm afraid that I do not believe it's worth it,

978
01:18:47,550 --> 01:18:50,690
and let alone, I believe that the main issue here is of trust,

979
01:18:51,150 --> 01:18:53,150
trust in policing and trust in government.

980
01:18:53,790 --> 01:18:54,990
As many people have pointed out before,

981
01:18:55,630 --> 01:18:57,230
this technology has already been abused,

982
01:18:57,810 --> 01:19:00,730
and that simply shows the flaws in the regulations and systems

983
01:19:00,730 --> 01:19:03,850
already at hand that leaves me and many others believing

984
01:19:03,850 --> 01:19:07,850
believing that this technology cannot be trusted in the hands of anyone at this time.

985
01:19:08,890 --> 01:19:14,030
Until such measures are put in place until people can't abuse this technology to stalk

986
01:19:14,030 --> 01:19:18,330
people or ask anyone, I don't believe that anyone can be trusted with it.

987
01:19:19,070 --> 01:19:23,370
And see, I believe that that is something that people should remember, because allowing

988
01:19:23,370 --> 01:19:28,310
these technologies to remain in place is going to cost people the public trust, is going

989
01:19:28,310 --> 01:19:33,630
to cause votes to people in power, is going to cost people their own sense of security because

990
01:19:33,630 --> 01:19:35,550
I was paradoxically, knowing that you're watched

991
01:19:35,550 --> 01:19:37,750
can make you feel very insecure.

992
01:19:39,310 --> 01:19:42,750
I believe that everyone here's already made their point

993
01:19:42,750 --> 01:19:44,530
and I believe that everyone should continue

994
01:19:44,530 --> 01:19:45,850
to remember the other words at night.

995
01:19:46,230 --> 01:19:46,550
Thank you.

996
01:19:55,180 --> 01:19:56,300
Hello, my name's Franklin Brooks.

997
01:19:56,480 --> 01:19:57,560
I'm a resident of Monroe County.

998
01:19:58,600 --> 01:20:00,180
I don't have a prepared speech either,

999
01:20:00,340 --> 01:20:02,200
but I just wanna touch on a few things

1000
01:20:02,200 --> 01:20:04,120
that I don't think others have.

1001
01:20:05,080 --> 01:20:06,840
There's a lot of cities around the country

1002
01:20:06,840 --> 01:20:09,920
that are pulling their contracts with flock

1003
01:20:09,920 --> 01:20:12,280
because of the concerns and the abuses.

1004
01:20:13,340 --> 01:20:15,040
And even then that they're having issues,

1005
01:20:16,300 --> 01:20:18,620
guaranteeing that the data is actually deleted,

1006
01:20:19,240 --> 01:20:22,400
that the promises are being kept.

1007
01:20:25,250 --> 01:20:26,080
And that you're giving,

1008
01:20:26,220 --> 01:20:27,580
you're being given an opportunity

1009
01:20:27,580 --> 01:20:28,600
to get ahead of the curve,

1010
01:20:29,440 --> 01:20:34,980
to prevent potential backlashes, lawsuits.

1011
01:20:36,600 --> 01:20:38,380
God forbid someone being killed

1012
01:20:38,380 --> 01:20:46,220
by a mistaken error by the flat cameras and being held at gunpoint so I hope

1013
01:20:46,220 --> 01:20:52,260
that you take that into consideration and what else?

1014
01:20:57,980 --> 01:20:59,140
What's about it?

1015
01:21:00,380 --> 01:21:01,180
Thank you.

1016
01:21:08,190 --> 01:21:10,590
Are there any other citizens who wish to address the board?

1017
01:21:11,730 --> 01:21:12,370
Sure.

1018
01:21:17,290 --> 01:21:21,030
I've listened tonight to everybody's concerns and I understand where

1019
01:21:21,030 --> 01:21:27,190
they're coming from? They probably have some facts that are correct, but here's the fact,

1020
01:21:27,590 --> 01:21:34,310
I think this board should form a committee with the law enforcement in the county and with

1021
01:21:34,310 --> 01:21:42,090
the group of citizens and put it on a ballot for every one of your constituents to vote on before

1022
01:21:42,090 --> 01:21:48,550
you make a decision tonight. We talk about constitutional rights. We should put, I haven't seen anything

1023
01:21:48,550 --> 01:21:56,010
it in the news about this proposed resolution. So most of the citizens in the rural county

1024
01:21:56,010 --> 01:22:01,190
doesn't even know it exists. So I'd put, I just asked the board to put it out there

1025
01:22:01,190 --> 01:22:07,930
for the citizens to vote on. I understand everybody's concerned. I really do, but it should

1026
01:22:07,930 --> 01:22:14,070
be a vote by the county, okay, not just the people that were here tonight to try and influence

1027
01:22:14,070 --> 01:22:20,430
you. You guys represent the whole county, okay? And just ask them just to put it to a vote,

1028
01:22:20,870 --> 01:22:24,990
put it on a ballot. That's the constitutional thing to do. Thanks.

1029
01:22:33,580 --> 01:22:34,520
Hello, my name is Caleb,

1030
01:22:34,520 --> 01:22:40,780
I'm a resident of Murrow County. And on the way to work, I saw something curious the other day.

1031
01:22:41,340 --> 01:22:47,780
I saw a surveillance camera pointed at the front of my car. Now, I don't have a front license

1032
01:22:47,780 --> 01:22:49,120
and it's played, I just have one in the back.

1033
01:22:49,400 --> 01:22:52,700
So I got a little curious about two things.

1034
01:22:53,200 --> 01:22:56,400
A, how many cameras recorded my movements every time I went

1035
01:22:56,400 --> 01:22:59,080
through the town that I live in, Monroe, Born and Raced,

1036
01:22:59,580 --> 01:23:02,600
as well as why they would be looking at my car

1037
01:23:02,600 --> 01:23:03,420
from certain angles.

1038
01:23:04,480 --> 01:23:07,200
So I did a little research and I found that there were five

1039
01:23:07,200 --> 01:23:10,680
flock cameras on my way to work on either of the routes

1040
01:23:10,680 --> 01:23:11,280
that I would go.

1041
01:23:11,320 --> 01:23:14,640
That's five different independent cameras on my way to work.

1042
01:23:14,640 --> 01:23:19,220
work. And this was a little confusing as was a little upsetting. And then I did a little

1043
01:23:19,220 --> 01:23:25,920
more research and I found that there were actually over 50,000 cameras proposed or created

1044
01:23:25,920 --> 01:23:31,920
by Flock and distributed across the country. In the past, this board has emphasized the importance

1045
01:23:31,920 --> 01:23:38,940
of local control about the things that we do pertaining to us here. So what I want to understand

1046
01:23:38,940 --> 01:23:54,440
How can the integrity of this board withstand the idea of leaving these cameras up as they are constantly currently violating the rights of privacy and liberty of the citizens of the county, as well as the people who pass through the county who don't even live here?

1047
01:23:55,320 --> 01:23:57,640
50,000 cameras, that's not local control.

1048
01:23:58,940 --> 01:24:02,080
That's someone purchasing a stake in the privacy of the American people.

1049
01:24:02,080 --> 01:24:08,960
I think that's disgusting. I think it's horrifying. I think the things that these technologies

1050
01:24:08,960 --> 01:24:14,940
are enabling are a fundamental violation of the rights of us as living, breathing, free

1051
01:24:14,940 --> 01:24:22,820
American citizens. I think the idea that we should wait and see and make sure that these

1052
01:24:22,820 --> 01:24:28,440
rights get a little bit easier in their violations, that the violence inflicted upon us as American

1053
01:24:28,440 --> 01:24:32,500
citizens upon the sole of our country as we sink further in furler into a

1054
01:24:32,500 --> 01:24:35,980
surveillance state. While these companies look us in the eye and tell us that

1055
01:24:35,980 --> 01:24:40,360
everything will be okay, you can trust me. As they sell our data, as they

1056
01:24:40,360 --> 01:24:46,080
purline the pockets of the American people, I think these are abominations against

1057
01:24:46,080 --> 01:24:50,520
America. On a fundamental level, I think this technology is unpatriotic, it

1058
01:24:50,520 --> 01:24:55,680
violates our rights, it violates our integrity. We should have never have put

1059
01:24:55,680 --> 01:24:59,760
these cameras up in the first place, honestly. This shouldn't have never been a discussion

1060
01:24:59,760 --> 01:25:06,260
that all these people would have to show up for and have. But here we are. Unfortunately,

1061
01:25:07,260 --> 01:25:13,020
the good news is it is never too late to be on the right side of history. Stand for the

1062
01:25:13,020 --> 01:25:17,860
tenants of local control that this board has proposed in the past, stand for the integrity

1063
01:25:17,860 --> 01:25:22,460
of this board to protect the rights of the citizens of the county, and just do the right

1064
01:25:22,460 --> 01:25:23,360
God damn thing.

1065
01:25:34,780 --> 01:25:43,860
My name is Joe Stasek. I am a neurocanny resident from Ida. And I just thought

1066
01:25:43,860 --> 01:25:51,680
of something when I was listening to this gentleman's response, suggesting putting this

1067
01:25:51,680 --> 01:25:59,820
to a vote. If we were to do that, it would leave the cameras in place for a longer until

1068
01:25:59,820 --> 01:26:07,840
a vote could be organized, but also I believe that what a lot of people forget is that we

1069
01:26:07,840 --> 01:26:11,740
were not created as a nation to be a democracy.

1070
01:26:11,740 --> 01:26:20,020
We were created to be a republic, which means that we elect representatives to represent

1071
01:26:20,020 --> 01:26:29,310
us, but also to protect us from majority rule becoming a mob.

1072
01:26:29,310 --> 01:26:33,750
But it's meant to temper our impulses so

1073
01:26:36,470 --> 01:26:38,190
that we can make wise decisions.

1074
01:26:41,680 --> 01:26:49,920
I believe that these cameras are a massive invasion of the system that we put in place

1075
01:26:49,920 --> 01:26:53,040
to protect our rights and our privacy.

1076
01:26:54,160 --> 01:26:59,900
The system that was outlined in the Constitution, that was passed not with just a simple majority,

1077
01:26:59,900 --> 01:27:04,940
But with an overwhelming support, over a long period of time,

1078
01:27:08,490 --> 01:27:09,870
he's do the right thing.

1079
01:27:10,290 --> 01:27:10,710
Thank you.

1080
01:27:20,640 --> 01:27:23,480
Okay, I think we're going to, okay.

1081
01:27:29,770 --> 01:27:34,810
Sam from Monroe, I'd like to be at home watching TV right now.

1082
01:27:39,260 --> 01:27:45,620
Don't violate our constitutional rights, get rid of the flock.

1083
01:27:46,440 --> 01:27:46,960
Thank you.

1084
01:27:46,960 --> 01:27:47,900
Okay,

1085
01:27:56,520 --> 01:28:00,820
I think we'll now move into resolution special tributes and presentation.

1086
01:28:01,080 --> 01:28:05,120
Item number one is the resolution of firming constitutional privacy and

1087
01:28:05,120 --> 01:28:10,220
terminating use of flock safety cameras and similar mass vehicle surveillance technology.

1088
01:28:10,220 --> 01:28:12,980
Could I get a motion, please move by Leavins.

1089
01:28:13,480 --> 01:28:16,920
Supported by Heinzeling, are there comments or questions on the motion?

1090
01:28:18,200 --> 01:28:19,200
Commissioner Asperer.

1091
01:28:19,720 --> 01:28:23,240
Yes, I think I would like to mention something before we vote on this.

1092
01:28:23,760 --> 01:28:28,960
Because it sounded like a couple people came up thinking that we actually voted to have

1093
01:28:28,960 --> 01:28:30,660
these flat cameras in the first place.

1094
01:28:31,240 --> 01:28:33,240
That's not how this worked.

1095
01:28:34,240 --> 01:28:36,100
There are budgets that we vote on.

1096
01:28:36,700 --> 01:28:40,340
There were no flat cameras on a light item or anything like that that we had approved

1097
01:28:40,340 --> 01:28:40,960
or anything.

1098
01:28:41,960 --> 01:28:44,960
It became, we became aware of it a few weeks ago.

1099
01:28:45,620 --> 01:28:51,520
And so since I had been doing some research on data centers and also on stingrays, you might

1100
01:28:51,520 --> 01:28:57,800
want to look that one up. That's where they connect up to your phone. So there are a lot of

1101
01:28:57,800 --> 01:29:03,740
things out there. So as a matter of fact, when Commissioner Moore and I first came on the board

1102
01:29:03,740 --> 01:29:09,900
10 years ago, one of our things was to keep it constitutional and to not throw your money down a black

1103
01:29:09,900 --> 01:29:18,660
hole. In this instance, I think it's important that it was mentioned about possibly putting it to

1104
01:29:18,660 --> 01:29:26,420
vote of the whole county. But the problem is, as he said, we are republic. We do not vote

1105
01:29:26,420 --> 01:29:32,460
on whether we're going to follow the Constitution or not. And so since I follow the Constitution,

1106
01:29:32,840 --> 01:29:39,580
I made an oath to that. I cannot just let that go on. So we have to have a vote tonight.

1107
01:29:40,120 --> 01:29:44,400
So I'm just hoping that that will persuade some people that it's not a vote of the county.

1108
01:29:44,400 --> 01:29:47,400
and you don't vote on what's constitutional or not constitutional.

1109
01:29:48,040 --> 01:29:49,240
I think it's important too.

1110
01:29:49,420 --> 01:29:51,000
We talked about minority report.

1111
01:29:51,540 --> 01:29:52,920
You can watch mercy.

1112
01:29:53,540 --> 01:29:55,080
You can see where these things go.

1113
01:29:55,240 --> 01:29:57,660
And it's not because we don't like our sheriff.

1114
01:29:58,180 --> 01:29:59,760
We've got a really safe county.

1115
01:30:00,000 --> 01:30:29,020
Compared to the rest of the state of Michigan, we are doing very awesome for many of the things that he has done. So this is just a matter of just being constitutional. But I just wanted to clarify that because several people made it sound like we voted on these black cameras and just decided we were going to do it. And it was not that was not it as soon as we understood how many we had. We thought we had one on one corner because there was a bad intersection.

1116
01:30:29,540 --> 01:30:36,840
and it turned out to be 26th and it turned out to be 40 and so that's how, you know, we acted on it right away.

1117
01:30:37,120 --> 01:30:41,960
It wasn't a matter of saying, oh, let's wait and let everybody read about it and do all of this.

1118
01:30:42,100 --> 01:30:45,700
We felt like it needed, you know, it needed to be worked on right away.

1119
01:30:46,000 --> 01:30:53,020
And considering that Commissioner Levens is an attorney, that was the person who stepped up to do that.

1120
01:30:53,160 --> 01:30:55,220
So just so you understand the background of it.

1121
01:30:55,220 --> 01:30:56,520
Mr. Swardow.

1122
01:30:58,870 --> 01:30:59,990
Mr. Swardow?

1123
01:31:00,410 --> 01:31:05,050
Yeah, I got a few comments, but I'd like for the sheriff to come up and address some things that were said.

1124
01:31:05,650 --> 01:31:07,050
If that would be possible, too.

1125
01:31:08,170 --> 01:31:10,690
I appreciate everybody coming with comments tonight.

1126
01:31:11,010 --> 01:31:16,310
I spent a month talking to several hundred people, most of which want these cameras.

1127
01:31:17,050 --> 01:31:19,130
So I have an obligation to bring that up, too.

1128
01:31:20,270 --> 01:31:20,510
Okay.

1129
01:31:21,730 --> 01:31:26,090
I got calls from Raisinville, Bedford, Monroe, the South, French town township, City, Monroe.

1130
01:31:26,750 --> 01:31:34,130
How come this didn't come up at our municipalities, when we voted to do these things, the county commissioners didn't do it.

1131
01:31:34,730 --> 01:31:37,990
Just like Don said, we didn't put these cameras up there.

1132
01:31:38,950 --> 01:31:40,410
They were done at a local level.

1133
01:31:40,530 --> 01:31:46,590
And to go to the next step if this resolution passes, we have no enforcement authority with those municipalities.

1134
01:31:47,250 --> 01:31:50,030
And I believe that our legal counsel could tell you that.

1135
01:31:54,580 --> 01:31:56,680
Any other comments or questions from commissioners?

1136
01:32:02,030 --> 01:32:08,910
I have a difficult decision to make tonight and it basically falls back in the fact that I have two sons there in law enforcement.

1137
01:32:11,690 --> 01:32:18,250
And my number one thing for me to do is to follow the oath that I took when I became a county commissioner.

1138
01:32:18,930 --> 01:32:22,470
And that's to follow the Constitution and make sure people's rights aren't violated.

1139
01:32:23,730 --> 01:32:31,350
So it's difficult for me because I know I'm taking a tool out of the tool chest for my two boys to do their job.

1140
01:32:31,770 --> 01:32:33,250
And I know that they do it well.

1141
01:32:34,590 --> 01:32:42,130
And it's unfortunate that the few make it horrible for the rest.

1142
01:32:43,950 --> 01:32:50,290
So I just want to let you know I'm going to follow my oath and do what I feel is

1143
01:32:50,290 --> 01:32:56,890
constitutionally right for all the constituents of Monroe County and I think

1144
01:32:56,890 --> 01:33:00,950
that's the right thing to do unfortunately there's there's going to be a lot of

1145
01:33:00,950 --> 01:33:05,570
bad things happening because these cameras aren't connected but like they say

1146
01:33:06,330 --> 01:33:11,630
freedom isn't free you have to fight for it and and this is where we are doing it

1147
01:33:11,630 --> 01:33:11,990
right here,

1148
01:33:16,690 --> 01:33:17,710
Commissioner Benicke.

1149
01:33:19,610 --> 01:33:25,030
I think, unfortunately, for all of us, technology is all based legislation.

1150
01:33:25,770 --> 01:33:27,250
I think there's legislation and

1151
01:33:27,250 --> 01:33:29,870
lancing coming to address this problem.

1152
01:33:30,330 --> 01:33:34,210
I think whatever the vote is this evening amongst us commissioners,

1153
01:33:34,530 --> 01:33:41,610
I would really like to revisit this in six months to see what progress has been made in the legislative field,

1154
01:33:41,850 --> 01:33:44,410
and what progress has been made with the technology.

1155
01:33:44,410 --> 01:33:49,810
so we can stay abreast of this and not just let it make one vote and that'll be it.

1156
01:33:50,010 --> 01:33:53,350
I want to revisit this in six months despite whatever the vote is tonight.

1157
01:33:56,840 --> 01:33:57,500
Other comments?

1158
01:33:58,980 --> 01:33:59,800
Um, so go ahead.

1159
01:34:00,060 --> 01:34:02,400
No, I was just going to say we're going to ask the sheriff to come up.

1160
01:34:05,610 --> 01:34:06,730
Sheriff, it's up to you.

1161
01:34:17,150 --> 01:34:21,990
Mr. Smith, thank you for the opportunity.

1162
01:34:22,630 --> 01:34:27,530
I do, I heard what everybody said and I value everybody's comments.

1163
01:34:27,530 --> 01:34:30,810
a lot of them, great comments, great concerns.

1164
01:34:31,910 --> 01:34:34,270
As the chief law enforcement officer of this county,

1165
01:34:34,570 --> 01:34:37,370
I'm tasked with a number of things.

1166
01:34:38,090 --> 01:34:39,630
One, in first and foremost,

1167
01:34:39,630 --> 01:34:41,830
is respecting the Constitution of the United States,

1168
01:34:42,350 --> 01:34:44,230
the Constitution of the State of Michigan.

1169
01:34:45,170 --> 01:34:48,610
I also have to balance public safety

1170
01:34:49,950 --> 01:34:51,550
and that's without question.

1171
01:34:52,650 --> 01:34:55,050
There's a lot of court law cases

1172
01:34:55,050 --> 01:35:00,510
is that dictate what I as the elected sheriff have the authority to do and not do.

1173
01:35:01,430 --> 01:35:03,950
And as I said, I welcomed everybody's comments.

1174
01:35:04,130 --> 01:35:04,630
I've heard them.

1175
01:35:05,810 --> 01:35:07,450
A number of them I agree with.

1176
01:35:11,170 --> 01:35:16,110
You've heard it from commissioners and I do value a number of comments that were made that

1177
01:35:16,110 --> 01:35:16,990
people trust me.

1178
01:35:17,090 --> 01:35:18,690
They just don't know who's going to replace me.

1179
01:35:18,830 --> 01:35:20,350
I can't answer that question.

1180
01:35:21,390 --> 01:35:24,410
And I appreciate the confidence that they've instilled in me.

1181
01:35:27,310 --> 01:35:36,010
So, that's right, it's a tool and I think Commissioner Lamore said that.

1182
01:35:36,170 --> 01:35:37,270
It's a tool for our toolbox.

1183
01:35:39,880 --> 01:35:42,600
Does it make our operation run more efficiently?

1184
01:35:43,440 --> 01:35:45,540
Absolutely, absolutely.

1185
01:35:48,640 --> 01:35:54,540
Do we have to balance the constitutional rights of our citizens in the speed in which we solve

1186
01:35:54,540 --> 01:35:54,980
cases?

1187
01:35:55,780 --> 01:35:56,360
Absolutely.

1188
01:35:56,360 --> 01:36:03,800
When I was contacted by flock with the changes in policy, I didn't wait.

1189
01:36:04,480 --> 01:36:13,160
I immediately met with our team at the Sheriff's Office, our detectives who utilize this information, this device, this tool, frequently.

1190
01:36:14,380 --> 01:36:23,400
And I said going from 30 to 7 days, they said Sheriff, most generally, within 48 hours, we're using flock to solve crime.

1191
01:36:25,340 --> 01:36:29,400
Therefore, I adopted all the recommendations made by Flock.

1192
01:36:30,160 --> 01:36:34,200
I also, and there's been comments I made tonight about security.

1193
01:36:36,750 --> 01:36:41,890
Anything that has a human fling or print on is vulnerable, anything, and I'm not here

1194
01:36:41,890 --> 01:36:42,670
to tell you it's not.

1195
01:36:43,350 --> 01:36:49,230
But I contacted our IT director who in my humble opinions are probably the best in this country.

1196
01:36:49,230 --> 01:36:50,150
and

1197
01:36:52,300 --> 01:36:56,120
I said, tell me about the security vulnerability of flock.

1198
01:36:57,540 --> 01:37:00,600
And he said, Sheriff Michigan does not have any parameters.

1199
01:37:01,080 --> 01:37:06,720
Texas has the highest security methods or I'm sorry,

1200
01:37:06,880 --> 01:37:11,740
security, security measures in place and flock adopts Texas guidelines.

1201
01:37:12,540 --> 01:37:15,400
I took that information and I felt comfortable.

1202
01:37:15,580 --> 01:37:18,140
But I'm not saying it can't be hacked.

1203
01:37:18,680 --> 01:37:23,800
As I said, anything that has a human foot fingerprint on is vulnerable.

1204
01:37:24,260 --> 01:37:28,340
So with that, I just, Mr. Chairman, commissioners, I wanted to say that, and I know Commissioner

1205
01:37:28,340 --> 01:37:31,320
Swartout, I'm more than happy to address any questions that you have.

1206
01:37:33,680 --> 01:37:34,900
Any questions for Sheriff?

1207
01:37:35,020 --> 01:37:35,240
Good enough.

1208
01:37:36,280 --> 01:37:37,960
You've answered my questions, thank you.

1209
01:37:39,060 --> 01:37:44,140
And if I could, Mr. Chairman, you know, there's been question about funding and comments about

1210
01:37:44,140 --> 01:37:45,860
how many cameras are in Monroe County.

1211
01:37:47,340 --> 01:37:58,660
This endeavor with Flock started in Bedford Township in 2023, where the business district

1212
01:37:58,660 --> 01:38:04,760
that Sterns and Seacorp contacted us because they were experiencing an exorbitant amount

1213
01:38:04,760 --> 01:38:15,600
of theft and talked about additional police resources, the cost, cameras, businesses putting

1214
01:38:15,600 --> 01:38:22,780
in cameras. And at that time I made a recommendation. I should say I told them

1215
01:38:22,780 --> 01:38:26,440
consider looking at a Lexus plate reader so that we could capture the

1216
01:38:26,440 --> 01:38:30,240
information of those that were violating the law in that area. And they

1217
01:38:30,240 --> 01:38:35,920
embarked on an agreement through Bedford Township with Flock. Now the

1218
01:38:35,920 --> 01:38:41,740
county of Monroe is the gatekeeper of that information so that it doesn't

1219
01:38:41,740 --> 01:38:46,360
fall in the wrong hands. Everybody here tonight made a good point, who's got

1220
01:38:46,360 --> 01:38:51,260
getting this information. I felt as the sheriff we were in the right position to

1221
01:38:51,260 --> 01:38:57,820
gather that information and monitor it. In 2024, French Town did the same thing

1222
01:38:57,820 --> 01:39:03,860
and added eight cameras. In 2025, French Town came to me and said we want four more

1223
01:39:03,860 --> 01:39:13,340
cameras for a total of 12, in 2025, March of 2025, Monroe Town entered into an agreement

1224
01:39:13,340 --> 01:39:20,600
to add four, and in December of 2025, the county of Monroe had 20 cameras added around.

1225
01:39:21,000 --> 01:39:24,860
And I heard somebody say that they were put in areas that are suppressed.

1226
01:39:25,500 --> 01:39:31,380
I will tell you that we put them in areas that we identified as high crime areas, and

1227
01:39:31,380 --> 01:39:37,680
And we put them in areas that had high traffic so that we could better secure and protect

1228
01:39:37,680 --> 01:39:38,580
the citizens of Monroe.

1229
01:39:38,840 --> 01:39:44,620
So there are other cameras in Monroe County, they're owned by Myland, Dundee, the village

1230
01:39:44,620 --> 01:39:47,120
of Dundee as you heard tonight, and the city of Monroe.

1231
01:39:47,480 --> 01:39:55,280
So, you have heard some conversation about drones and Mr. Chairman, members of the board.

1232
01:39:56,660 --> 01:40:08,180
I've gone over this resolution as much as I possibly could, and I think this resolution deals strictly with automated license plate readers.

1233
01:40:08,580 --> 01:40:20,380
So I would ask that whatever decision is made, if someone could please clarify that for me, and then it's going to open up a lot more direction because we use a lot of drones in the sheriff's office.

1234
01:40:20,380 --> 01:40:23,320
Yes, I should say we use drones in the sheriff's office.

1235
01:40:24,380 --> 01:40:25,260
Thank you.

1236
01:40:33,220 --> 01:40:38,060
Mr. Liebans, do we have clarification on the intent of the resolution, whether or not it's

1237
01:40:38,060 --> 01:40:41,080
going to include first responder drones?

1238
01:40:41,940 --> 01:40:46,020
So that clarification is that specified technology.

1239
01:40:46,440 --> 01:40:50,400
So if it is a plate reader technology, that's the intent and purpose of that resolution.

1240
01:40:50,580 --> 01:40:55,780
But if it's a drone using it and I don't want to misspeak flare or whatever that I know has

1241
01:40:55,780 --> 01:41:01,160
been used in search and rescue, I believe a gentleman a few years ago, maybe it was a

1242
01:41:01,160 --> 01:41:08,220
suspect or a lost person in a swamp, obviously using flare technology would be separate, but

1243
01:41:08,220 --> 01:41:15,620
as far as it concerns the ALPR, the flock technology, that would be separate.

1244
01:41:16,500 --> 01:41:20,580
I appreciate the clarification, go ahead.

1245
01:41:20,580 --> 01:41:26,200
Yeah, just so I'm clear, we use drones for search and rescue as Commissioner Lehman's mentioned.

1246
01:41:26,480 --> 01:41:29,460
We do have Flurr forward looking infrared that we do use.

1247
01:41:29,800 --> 01:41:32,320
We do not use drones that go out and read license plates.

1248
01:41:32,600 --> 01:41:38,700
We do not use drones to do what automated license plate readers are primarily designed to do.

1249
01:41:40,360 --> 01:41:48,160
And we just for further clarification though, and I appreciate Commissioner Lehman's clarifying on this that is strictly for license plate readers.

1250
01:41:48,160 --> 01:41:58,800
But for transparency, we are getting ready to enter into a pilot drone first responder program in September this month, I believe.

1251
01:41:59,200 --> 01:42:08,340
We've entered into agreement to do a pilot for one year, absolutely, and those are drone first responders called for service comes in, they respond.

1252
01:42:08,340 --> 01:42:15,720
right which is through flock we currently if part of the pilot there'll be two drones

1253
01:42:15,720 --> 01:42:20,840
in Monroe township two in French town township what the board is going to have to

1254
01:42:20,840 --> 01:42:25,160
have a make a decision on in the in the future is when this pilot program is

1255
01:42:25,160 --> 01:42:29,420
over how do we move forward because if this board was going to move forward just

1256
01:42:29,420 --> 01:42:33,940
to support the four drones that are going to be part of the pilot it would be at

1257
01:42:33,940 --> 01:42:37,720
an annual cost of a quarter of a million dollars share of good enough said that

1258
01:42:37,720 --> 01:42:53,400
in a previous talk to the board that if you want to deploy them around the entire county so that you're covering West County, South County, North and East, it would be closer to an annual payment of $1 million to support these first responder drones.

1259
01:42:53,680 --> 01:43:03,480
So I'm just letting the board know this is a predicament that we're going to have in the very near future on whether or not we want to support this kind of a program.

1260
01:43:03,480 --> 01:43:10,240
I would tell you also that we have very much competing interests for the money in our budget.

1261
01:43:10,920 --> 01:43:12,780
And so, we're going to have to do some soul searching.

1262
01:43:14,400 --> 01:43:18,580
What's the best opportunity to spend a million dollars on?

1263
01:43:18,820 --> 01:43:24,640
Would it be a first responder drone program, or maybe it should be economic development and

1264
01:43:24,640 --> 01:43:27,500
supporting some of the development that's going on in the county?

1265
01:43:27,700 --> 01:43:32,640
So, I know it's not part of the resolution tonight, but it is something this board absolutely

1266
01:43:32,640 --> 01:43:34,340
We'll be taken up in the very near future.

1267
01:43:35,540 --> 01:43:41,140
Thank you, and I just want to make it clear, I know somebody mentioned something about the company we're using.

1268
01:43:41,320 --> 01:43:44,140
We looked at all drone first responder companies.

1269
01:43:44,560 --> 01:43:48,580
They were the only company that offered us an opportunity to do a free pilot.

1270
01:43:48,880 --> 01:43:52,820
We don't even know if this is going to be something that works for the sheriff's office and the citizens of Monroe.

1271
01:43:53,060 --> 01:43:56,680
So that's why it's a pilot, we're not buying anything so thank you.

1272
01:43:57,000 --> 01:43:57,340
Thank you.

1273
01:43:57,340 --> 01:43:58,040
Thank you.

1274
01:43:58,200 --> 01:43:58,300
Sure.

1275
01:44:05,320 --> 01:44:06,580
Mr. Chair, if I can speak.

1276
01:44:06,840 --> 01:44:16,440
I just summarized, one, it is an amazing, you know, attendance this evening of people coming

1277
01:44:16,440 --> 01:44:16,640
out.

1278
01:44:16,660 --> 01:44:19,240
I mean, that's what our democracy, our republic, is about.

1279
01:44:19,620 --> 01:44:27,540
And I think it's perfectly timed as we celebrate our 250th anniversary celebration of this country.

1280
01:44:28,060 --> 01:44:32,200
And so into the talk, I think the people that have come today have said it best.

1281
01:44:32,200 --> 01:44:38,700
They've talked about the constitutional violations, the worry of the hallucination of the technology

1282
01:44:38,700 --> 01:44:42,700
leading to false arrest and carceration, the abuse.

1283
01:44:43,060 --> 01:44:45,500
And I'll just note some of the studies that I researched.

1284
01:44:45,740 --> 01:44:51,280
The average drunk driver by the time that they're arrested has, according to the experts,

1285
01:44:51,960 --> 01:44:55,300
driven under the influence between 80 and 2,000 times.

1286
01:44:55,300 --> 01:44:59,400
So it was mentioned today it's been document in the news of the

1287
01:45:00,000 --> 01:45:29,440
Abuse that are presently known. I mean, that could be 100,000 abuses that are just scratching the surface of what's known and could be more. And because there aren't those guardrails, which was indicated. And then think of the cost and, you know, it's, you know, outrageous that this technology is being offered for free. Kind of like people that pedal drugs get you a hook down it. And then you have it. And what's the cost? 250,000, a million dollars. And I'll tell you for me, I'd rather have a real officer on the road.

1288
01:45:33,060 --> 01:45:42,180
then force all of my constituents in a fictive inmate of the Monroe County surveillance jail.

1289
01:45:42,640 --> 01:45:43,900
I just don't support that.

1290
01:45:44,500 --> 01:45:49,480
We can look to Toledo, recently a young man, I believe it was April this year.

1291
01:45:49,880 --> 01:45:53,760
It was a hallucination, the plate read at two for a seven.

1292
01:45:54,140 --> 01:45:57,080
He ended up being attacked by dogs incarcerated.

1293
01:45:57,860 --> 01:46:01,440
I think almost two days and that's going to be litigation.

1294
01:46:01,440 --> 01:46:10,140
I don't want that from Monroe County, litigation, the surveillance, the privacy violations, the slippery stroke that was mentioned, protecting crime at what cost?

1295
01:46:10,320 --> 01:46:19,800
Yes, this is a tool, but I mean, if it's all about crime, then let's do away with the constitution, probable cause, warrants, mean just do what you want.

1296
01:46:20,480 --> 01:46:28,320
The policy shortcomings, this is new technology without the proper guardrails, audit failures, corporate concerns.

1297
01:46:28,320 --> 01:46:33,760
free of movement was mentioned and then if you're not doing anything wrong don't worry about it

1298
01:46:33,760 --> 01:46:39,520
I've also read the the research materials that say even the most law-abiding citizen

1299
01:46:40,200 --> 01:46:44,660
unintentionally commits up to three felonies a day. I don't know the specifics of that

1300
01:46:44,660 --> 01:46:46,420
But we live in a highly regulated society

1301
01:46:46,420 --> 01:46:51,580
So who determines what's right and wrong and how that's enforced and so it concluded

1302
01:46:51,580 --> 01:46:55,620
You know this even with a couple people saying I've never seen such broad support

1303
01:46:55,620 --> 01:46:58,900
We've had people from both sides of the aisle coming by

1304
01:46:58,900 --> 01:47:01,720
partisan. How lovely is that now when we can't agree to

1305
01:47:01,720 --> 01:47:05,260
anything? And this is one thing left, right, center says,

1306
01:47:05,400 --> 01:47:08,260
hey, none of this. And we're commanded at the end,

1307
01:47:08,600 --> 01:47:11,280
inspired, if you will. Do the right thing. Why do you have to

1308
01:47:11,280 --> 01:47:13,780
wait for somebody else to step up when you're here right

1309
01:47:13,780 --> 01:47:18,460
now? And then the most outlandish is we should put it to

1310
01:47:18,460 --> 01:47:22,000
a vote. So what? We no one voted it in and we're going to

1311
01:47:22,000 --> 01:47:25,100
have to vote it out. I don't think so. This is opportunity

1312
01:47:25,100 --> 01:47:55,000
And he wants in a lifetime to do the right thing and set a signal so if it does come back it comes back with guardrails and addresses at least 20 concerns that I noted today of an out numbered amount of people on both sides saying, not now, not here, don't come back until you got it fixed so with that I'm a strong yes I'd ask my colleagues to support me with this and come back when we don't have this outpouring and concern.

1313
01:47:55,000 --> 01:47:56,120
Mr.

1314
01:48:00,350 --> 01:48:07,490
Moore, very quickly to go back to the resolution in my reading on the 4th page,

1315
01:48:07,790 --> 01:48:12,650
the 4th and 5th paragraph that says it's further resolved that Monroe County poses the acquisition deployment,

1316
01:48:13,310 --> 01:48:19,010
operation, renewal, expansion, or use of flock safety automated license plate readers, cameras,

1317
01:48:19,110 --> 01:48:23,430
in any substantially similar technology that systematically captures retained searches,

1318
01:48:23,430 --> 01:48:53,090
which is analyzes or shares vehicle location data concerning persons not reasonably suspected of criminal activity and then just below that, that to the fullest extent permitted by law, Monroe County shall immediately cease and to cease from using accessing supporting, hosting, funding, maintaining or participating in any flock safety system or substantially similar mass vehicle surveillance system, my plane reading of that and I'm not an attorney would say we would need to look at that drone system if we're using any type

1319
01:48:53,090 --> 01:48:54,830
of flock safety system.

1320
01:48:55,130 --> 01:49:02,170
I would also say I'm very grateful for Commissioner Leavins for bringing this to the board with

1321
01:49:02,690 --> 01:49:07,550
some embarrassment that I would say a few years ago I had concerns about this and I kind

1322
01:49:07,550 --> 01:49:10,830
of threw up my hands and I went well it's just another license plate reader there's not

1323
01:49:10,830 --> 01:49:15,510
much we can do when I had consistently been constitutional on this issue.

1324
01:49:15,710 --> 01:49:20,930
So one I appreciate you bringing this to the forefront both Commissioner Heinzerling and

1325
01:49:20,930 --> 01:49:21,910
Commissioner Leavins.

1326
01:49:21,910 --> 01:49:27,190
I have the same concerns that many of the people here just stated as well as Commissioner

1327
01:49:27,190 --> 01:49:28,830
Leavins he stated it better than I could.

1328
01:49:29,550 --> 01:49:34,430
The one thing we haven't really talked about and this is the beautiful thing about a constitutional

1329
01:49:34,430 --> 01:49:39,950
republic and the people having the right to say what they want to say is I had constituents

1330
01:49:39,950 --> 01:49:43,950
coming to me just six months ago and going have you actually looked into this have you looked

1331
01:49:43,950 --> 01:49:51,250
into flock you go online and boy is flock a shady company not only are they really pushing

1332
01:49:51,250 --> 01:49:57,010
Well, the officers or the sheriff or the law enforcement agency can delete the data, but

1333
01:49:57,010 --> 01:50:00,610
when you dig just a little deeper under the website, they retain that data.

1334
01:50:00,950 --> 01:50:03,910
They don't tell you if they're going to sell it, who they're going to share it with.

1335
01:50:04,270 --> 01:50:09,430
Much like the Prism Act that every single text and photo that you have on your phone gets

1336
01:50:09,430 --> 01:50:14,670
prismed off into a government server somewhere where we do warrantless searches for that that

1337
01:50:14,670 --> 01:50:17,910
fires a court and all those things that are going on from the Patriot Act.

1338
01:50:17,910 --> 01:50:24,530
This is just yet another potential of everything that you do and public is being tracked recorded and now I have a big

1339
01:50:24,530 --> 01:50:30,290
Corporation or a big company that saddles up to the federal or state or local governments and says well

1340
01:50:30,290 --> 01:50:33,490
What do you want us to do with this data? Can we sell it to you? Do you need to use it?

1341
01:50:33,490 --> 01:50:35,990
Maybe we let you access it and you give us some

1342
01:50:35,990 --> 01:50:40,150
Some legislative breaks on the next bill coming down the road that favors us

1343
01:50:40,610 --> 01:50:44,610
We've seen it far too many times and you can call that conspiratorial

1344
01:50:44,610 --> 01:50:59,090
But if you look over the last 20, 25 years of how the government at all three levels has used private data, it's astounding how much we've just taken and given up and said, OK, I guess I have no privacy.

1345
01:50:59,090 --> 01:51:15,650
I really appreciate and echo what Commissioner Leven said is, in 2026, we can't agree on anything, yet it feels like I've seen some Democrats and far-left, some far-rights and center, and we all go, well hold on, can we pause this a little bit?

1346
01:51:15,710 --> 01:51:24,430
We can all agree on that, that most people go, I don't want to be surveilled, and I mostly want to just be left alone, and that's one thing we can all agree on.

1347
01:51:24,430 --> 01:51:40,830
And so I would be a yes on this resolution, I appreciate both my fellow commissioners bringing this forefront and kind of maybe pushing me towards us a little bit more when maybe it was something that we should have done a few years ago, so I appreciate both you guys, thank you, so I'll have Kirsten Moore, are you wishing to amend the motion?

1348
01:51:42,370 --> 01:51:48,470
I would just add a question, maybe we ask legal counsel, but it looks like it says in any flock safety system in the resolution.

1349
01:51:48,470 --> 01:51:58,030
And if we're taking that for its word, I'm saying if the flock is the vendor that we're using for the drones, then it looks to me, it looks like we would not move forward with those drones.

1350
01:51:58,370 --> 01:52:00,150
I just want to make sure that we know what we're voting on.

1351
01:52:00,350 --> 01:52:00,870
Right, I agree.

1352
01:52:01,210 --> 01:52:04,890
It's opposing any flock technology or related technology.

1353
01:52:05,050 --> 01:52:06,570
That's the point of it.

1354
01:52:07,690 --> 01:52:12,070
So you're saying it will include first responder drones.

1355
01:52:12,070 --> 01:52:13,130
I

1356
01:52:15,690 --> 01:52:21,950
mean I don't read it that I mean I'll I mean Commissioner Leven's wrote this or you know

1357
01:52:21,950 --> 01:52:28,690
brought it to us but I I didn't read this the word drone is nowhere in this

1358
01:52:28,690 --> 01:52:33,510
resolution because drones aren't precluded because drones have the legitimate

1359
01:52:33,510 --> 01:52:40,250
purposes in law enforcement for search and rescue and in related non-flot

1360
01:52:40,250 --> 01:52:44,910
technology period. It's very simple. If those commissioners leave us in for

1361
01:52:44,910 --> 01:52:49,530
clarification, if those drones had a flock system attached to it or we were using

1362
01:52:49,530 --> 01:52:53,930
flock as the vendor with this resolution in your eyes, then preclude those

1363
01:52:53,930 --> 01:52:57,550
drones being used if it's attached to some type of flock system. I guess is what

1364
01:52:57,550 --> 01:53:03,470
I'm wondering. Correct. I use the flock terminology in any way. So drone, robot,

1365
01:53:03,970 --> 01:53:08,630
stationary, or any similar system. Okay. Similar system. That's the point. Thank

1366
01:53:08,630 --> 01:53:22,450
Thank you. Mr. Persona is is a flock the vendor for the drone pilot they are they are they are both for the automatic license plate readers as well as the pilot program for the drone first responders.

1367
01:53:23,550 --> 01:53:33,970
You know, just add we're not alone in our concerns. I mean each day you see another municipality a county a city a state Florida is questioning its decision.

1368
01:53:33,970 --> 01:53:40,590
And when I came before the sport a number of years questioning the issues with big pharma folks that that sense you

1369
01:53:40,590 --> 01:53:45,990
You can't question big pharma and we pushed it as a board and we ended up being a bell-weather county that

1370
01:53:45,990 --> 01:53:53,630
received more funds from that class action because we pushed the envelope and this is another opportunity

1371
01:53:53,630 --> 01:54:03,070
This time to push the envelope for freedom and I'd ask you everybody to stand with me and commissioner Heinzerling and stand up for the folks

1372
01:54:03,070 --> 01:54:05,550
the overwhelming folks today, they express their concerns.

1373
01:54:05,970 --> 01:54:12,050
Again, bipartisan unilateral in their voice, you know, for freedom of movement, you know,

1374
01:54:12,210 --> 01:54:12,970
freedom from surveillance.

1375
01:54:14,730 --> 01:54:15,630
Commissioner Asperger?

1376
01:54:16,070 --> 01:54:21,070
I mean, one of the things too about all of this is that it flips the burden of proof,

1377
01:54:21,310 --> 01:54:24,530
and we can't ever flip the burden of proof when we're talking about this.

1378
01:54:24,690 --> 01:54:31,230
But that made me wonder, then, if you're only mentioning flock, what the situation would

1379
01:54:31,230 --> 01:54:38,290
be in terms of, because as far as I know, Monroe County doesn't use, they don't use the

1380
01:54:38,290 --> 01:54:47,290
stingray. But the state of Michigan does through the, you know, the state police. And I don't

1381
01:54:47,290 --> 01:54:53,150
think we have any authority over the state police. And risk of interrupting, because I do that often,

1382
01:54:53,150 --> 01:54:55,290
is this is just Monroe County.

1383
01:54:55,450 --> 01:55:00,710
This isn't something for cities, townships,

1384
01:55:00,810 --> 01:55:01,790
obviously not the state.

1385
01:55:02,350 --> 01:55:04,030
And so we are staying in our lane

1386
01:55:04,030 --> 01:55:05,390
in what we do tonight.

1387
01:55:05,610 --> 01:55:08,810
Hopefully an inspiration to other units of government.

1388
01:55:09,210 --> 01:55:12,050
But this is today and succinctly put flock

1389
01:55:12,510 --> 01:55:13,850
and flock like technology.

1390
01:55:14,410 --> 01:55:14,650
Okay.

1391
01:55:14,990 --> 01:55:19,050
And I'm just mentioning that the stingray

1392
01:55:19,050 --> 01:55:22,490
is to your cell phone what these flock cameras are to your car.

1393
01:55:22,490 --> 01:55:29,290
So that may be something that goes on in the future, but we may have to do it at a legislative level, and I'm not going to pretend

1394
01:55:30,250 --> 01:55:30,970
technical competence

1395
01:55:31,710 --> 01:55:33,530
Anybody in my office would confirm that

1396
01:55:35,150 --> 01:55:39,890
I'm not even allowed to touch the photocopy, but mr. Chair. I think we've reached that point where it's going to happen

1397
01:55:39,890 --> 01:55:41,890
No, I'm fine. I'm just going to say we

1398
01:55:42,990 --> 01:55:47,210
We made a good consensus and thanks for everybody for coming out here and making your voice because

1399
01:55:48,070 --> 01:55:51,690
You can see what's got to be done, but I had a question how fast we're going to shut this thing down

1400
01:55:51,690 --> 01:55:54,910
We can get it down as of Mr. Polk.

1401
01:55:56,910 --> 01:56:02,410
Whatever is necessary, Mr. Bessonik would be the person to talk to tomorrow about that as far as the contract.

1402
01:56:02,810 --> 01:56:10,350
The timing is that enters now and Mr. Bessonik is to report back to us in 45 days with an updated report where we stand in the implementation of this resolution.

1403
01:56:12,170 --> 01:56:20,090
Mr. Svorena, I think the real question would go to our legal counsel because right now we've got seven municipalities that we can't enforce this on.

1404
01:56:20,090 --> 01:56:23,290
And let's come up with an idea that works for everybody.

1405
01:56:23,730 --> 01:56:27,810
Rather than have a resolution that we have no authority to do anything with.

1406
01:56:28,930 --> 01:56:32,710
Maybe we'll inspire their boards to take similar actions, like Mr. Chair.

1407
01:56:35,770 --> 01:56:36,610
Any other comments?

1408
01:56:37,910 --> 01:56:42,430
Yeah, I would say respectfully agree, Mr. Levens, again, that we're staying in Arlene as the county, and

1409
01:56:42,430 --> 01:56:46,870
I wouldn't want to step on the feet of any local municipality if they decide to move forward with that.

1410
01:56:46,870 --> 01:56:58,130
that their constituents can go to their meeting and have their voices heard or against it, but we are in charge as county commissioners of what the county does, and that's what this resolution addresses, which I appreciate.

1411
01:56:58,830 --> 01:57:01,310
I agree. Commissioner Asper, do you have another comment?

1412
01:57:01,630 --> 01:57:03,030
No, that was very successful.

1413
01:57:03,730 --> 01:57:05,370
Hearing no other comments, roll call please.

1414
01:57:06,350 --> 01:57:07,070
Commissioner Asper?

1415
01:57:07,630 --> 01:57:08,150
Yes.

1416
01:57:08,610 --> 01:57:09,370
Commissioner Heindling?

1417
01:57:09,750 --> 01:57:09,890
Yes.

1418
01:57:10,210 --> 01:57:10,990
Commissioner Lamor?

1419
01:57:11,250 --> 01:57:11,490
Yes.

1420
01:57:11,910 --> 01:57:12,670
Commissioner Vendzel?

1421
01:57:12,910 --> 01:57:13,050
Yes.

1422
01:57:13,450 --> 01:57:14,310
Commissioner Swardow?

1423
01:57:14,450 --> 01:57:14,610
No.

1424
01:57:15,230 --> 01:57:16,030
Commissioner Moore?

1425
01:57:16,030 --> 01:57:16,110
More?

1426
01:57:16,350 --> 01:57:16,630
Yes.

1427
01:57:17,010 --> 01:57:17,810
Commissioner Levens?

1428
01:57:18,030 --> 01:57:18,170
Yes.

1429
01:57:18,610 --> 01:57:19,510
Commissioner Hoffman?

1430
01:57:19,750 --> 01:57:19,970
Yes.

1431
01:57:20,270 --> 01:57:21,030
Commissioner Beninke?

1432
01:57:21,350 --> 01:57:21,590
Yes.

1433
01:57:21,890 --> 01:57:22,450
Motion carries.

1434
01:57:37,180 --> 01:57:39,480
Next up on the agenda of Finance Matters.

1435
01:57:39,500 --> 01:57:43,440
Item number one is the 2026 County Fairview Millage Rate.

1436
01:57:44,020 --> 01:57:49,920
On a letter dated April 29, 2026 from Mr. Michael Wolff or Equalization Director recommending the

1437
01:57:49,920 --> 01:57:55,840
2026 County Government and other special purpose millage rates for summer and winter tax bills.

1438
01:57:55,840 --> 01:57:59,920
And then let her be a letter dated at August 13th, 2026.

1439
01:58:00,480 --> 01:58:07,520
From Mr. Michael Besignik, administrative chief financial officer, recommending the operating military for fair view to be spread on the winter.

1440
01:58:08,640 --> 01:58:11,000
2026 tax bill, could I get a motion for this, please?

1441
01:58:11,360 --> 01:58:13,460
Move by Lamor, supported by Huffman.

1442
01:58:14,540 --> 01:58:18,320
Can we take an overview from Mr. Wolfer, then we'll take questions.

1443
01:58:25,200 --> 01:58:52,000
Yeah, so basically what we're doing is we're just amending the 4029 I'm asking to have prepared the 4029 with with the language on it saying that it will be amended because we'll have to send to into the state the one that we approved back in April, I think or may that did not include fair view this one includes the fair view knowledge so in essence, we're just approving the form with the fair view knowledge on it.

1444
01:58:52,000 --> 01:58:55,000
Okay. Thank you. Questions from Mr. Wolfram?

1445
01:58:55,360 --> 01:59:02,900
Mr. Chair, I would make a motion to approve the milled rates as presented with the amendment

1446
01:59:02,900 --> 01:59:09,780
that the fair view milled rate remained consistent with the 2025 rate, which I think was a 0.17.

1447
01:59:13,300 --> 01:59:14,820
Was there already a motion?

1448
01:59:15,240 --> 01:59:15,400
Yes.

1449
01:59:15,920 --> 01:59:17,900
There's a motion on the day I apologize.

1450
01:59:18,560 --> 01:59:23,940
I'd request a friendly amendment if the making of the motion would accept keeping the rate

1451
01:59:23,940 --> 01:59:28,900
for Fairview and lay the information of its performance numbers and the several

1452
01:59:28,900 --> 01:59:32,520
meetings we had to remain consistent with its 2025

1453
01:59:34,820 --> 01:59:35,320
millage.

1454
01:59:35,460 --> 01:59:36,860
Is it not going to change?

1455
01:59:38,100 --> 01:59:39,800
It's 18 now and what you're saying you want.

1456
01:59:40,080 --> 01:59:42,660
What was Mr. Wilford last year was 0.17?

1457
01:59:43,140 --> 01:59:44,600
Last year was 0.17.

1458
01:59:44,980 --> 01:59:47,080
I guess the rest is 0.18 correct.

1459
01:59:47,820 --> 01:59:47,960
Yep.

1460
01:59:48,600 --> 01:59:49,680
It's on the point one.

1461
01:59:49,680 --> 01:59:55,260
basically inflation and also the other reason for that would be so that we

1462
01:59:55,260 --> 01:59:59,780
would not have to take it out of the budget to basically

1463
02:00:00,000 --> 02:00:23,740
If there's any shortfall for a fair review this year, they wouldn't have to go back to take that money back out and reappropriate, which I think makes a common sense. And if there's any extra, it just basically goes back in. I appreciate that. Then I'll echo my the sentiments of Commissioner Bernacky that it has to be brought back again six months for a status update. I would agree with that.

1464
02:00:26,450 --> 02:00:31,550
Mr. Chairman, can you clarify the motion then? I think the motion is to accept

1465
02:00:31,550 --> 02:00:44,910
that what was wrote here to accept the millage rate and to revisit that in six months to ensure that we're getting what we're paying for basically.

1466
02:00:45,750 --> 02:00:48,910
Okay, so it stays at point one eight, but a revisit in six months?

1467
02:00:49,350 --> 02:00:49,470
Yes.

1468
02:00:50,070 --> 02:00:50,530
Okay, thank you.

1469
02:00:50,790 --> 02:00:57,890
And I just say that we need to make sure that the confirmation vote needs to be to make sure that they're referring to this as well.

1470
02:00:57,890 --> 02:01:04,570
And then just to correct the record, it isn't staying at 0.18, it's being raised to 0.18.

1471
02:01:04,630 --> 02:01:11,410
I'm sorry, as 0.18, but yeah, it was from 0.17 last year to 0.18 is what we're voting on tonight.

1472
02:01:11,470 --> 02:01:12,670
Correct, correct, correct.

1473
02:01:12,890 --> 02:01:20,070
And it's only winter 2026, so we would have to vote on it again when it comes to be summer 2026.

1474
02:01:20,990 --> 02:01:24,530
So it would be kind of automatic that we would do that in six months, right?

1475
02:01:24,930 --> 02:01:25,070
Right.

1476
02:01:25,590 --> 02:01:25,810
Okay.

1477
02:01:25,810 --> 02:01:31,790
I think it provides good with the addition, the update in six months.

1478
02:01:32,210 --> 02:01:33,190
Roll call, please.

1479
02:01:33,590 --> 02:01:34,370
Commissioner Heinz-Durling.

1480
02:01:34,590 --> 02:01:34,710
Yes.

1481
02:01:35,010 --> 02:01:35,750
Commissioner Lamore.

1482
02:01:36,010 --> 02:01:36,150
Yes.

1483
02:01:36,470 --> 02:01:37,070
Commissioner Venzel.

1484
02:01:37,410 --> 02:01:37,530
Yes.

1485
02:01:37,830 --> 02:01:38,510
Commissioner Tordau.

1486
02:01:38,690 --> 02:01:38,850
Yes.

1487
02:01:39,230 --> 02:01:39,750
Commissioner Moore.

1488
02:01:40,090 --> 02:01:40,250
Yes.

1489
02:01:40,570 --> 02:01:41,190
Commissioner Levens.

1490
02:01:41,450 --> 02:01:41,590
Yes.

1491
02:01:42,050 --> 02:01:42,770
Commissioner Hoffman.

1492
02:01:43,050 --> 02:01:43,230
Yes.

1493
02:01:43,510 --> 02:01:44,250
Commissioner Benenke.

1494
02:01:44,530 --> 02:01:44,750
Yes.

1495
02:01:44,990 --> 02:01:45,710
Commissioner Asper.

1496
02:01:45,890 --> 02:01:46,050
Yes.

1497
02:01:46,310 --> 02:01:46,750
Motion carries.

1498
02:01:47,270 --> 02:01:47,670
Thank you.

1499
02:01:47,770 --> 02:01:48,030
Thank you.

1500
02:01:48,490 --> 02:01:54,790
Next under finance matters is payment of the September 2nd, 2026, accounts payable current claims

1501
02:01:54,790 --> 02:02:00,630
It's important the amount of $934,000 and $10.67, can we get a motion, please?

1502
02:02:01,250 --> 02:02:01,910
I'll make that motion.

1503
02:02:02,170 --> 02:02:02,770
Moved by Huffman.

1504
02:02:03,210 --> 02:02:03,510
Second.

1505
02:02:03,750 --> 02:02:06,310
Supported by Asper, now I'll turn it over to Sue.

1506
02:02:07,010 --> 02:02:12,210
Good evening, on page number 1, vendor number 2, 0, 0, 0, 5, BSNA software,

1507
02:02:12,750 --> 02:02:15,170
it's an annual licensing for the financial software.

1508
02:02:16,150 --> 02:02:21,330
Page number 2, vendor number 1, 2, 1, 0, 2, 1, Lucas County Coroner's Office,

1509
02:02:21,330 --> 02:02:28,970
contractual autopsy services. Page number three, vendor number 192336 Spectrum

1510
02:02:28,970 --> 02:02:33,910
Printer's Inc. It's a ballot printing for the November election. Vendor number

1511
02:02:33,910 --> 02:02:41,470
200426, the 53rd Group LLC. It's contractual custodial services for various

1512
02:02:41,470 --> 02:02:48,490
facilities. And on page number five, vendor number 903819 shoemaker brothers,

1513
02:02:48,490 --> 02:02:52,210
drain project costs paid through the drain commission, and that's the end of my list.

1514
02:02:52,570 --> 02:02:53,770
Any questions for Sue?

1515
02:02:54,030 --> 02:02:54,850
One question, Sue.

1516
02:02:57,590 --> 02:03:01,430
This 15531 environmental enterprise is incorporated, what was that for?

1517
02:03:01,730 --> 02:03:04,610
I'm sorry, what page 50531?

1518
02:03:05,170 --> 02:03:07,930
Yeah, it was 50531, yes.

1519
02:03:09,850 --> 02:03:14,210
That is Household Hazardist Waste Collection, paid through environmental health.

1520
02:03:14,510 --> 02:03:15,630
So that was down to the health department?

1521
02:03:15,630 --> 02:03:20,230
There's the health environment that various household hazardous waste collections at the head.

1522
02:03:20,250 --> 02:03:23,350
We had to know if we had a store or something around the county we needed to do something.

1523
02:03:23,890 --> 02:03:23,990
No.

1524
02:03:24,970 --> 02:03:25,730
Thank you.

1525
02:03:26,350 --> 02:03:27,390
Any other questions?

1526
02:03:29,730 --> 02:03:30,390
Roll call please.

1527
02:03:30,910 --> 02:03:31,510
Commissioner Lamor.

1528
02:03:31,770 --> 02:03:31,910
Yes.

1529
02:03:32,290 --> 02:03:32,850
Commissioner Venzel.

1530
02:03:33,010 --> 02:03:33,150
Yes.

1531
02:03:33,570 --> 02:03:34,230
Commissioner Swordow.

1532
02:03:34,410 --> 02:03:34,550
Yes.

1533
02:03:34,970 --> 02:03:35,490
Commissioner Moore.

1534
02:03:35,790 --> 02:03:35,970
Yes.

1535
02:03:36,290 --> 02:03:36,970
Commissioner Levance.

1536
02:03:37,170 --> 02:03:37,290
Yes.

1537
02:03:37,690 --> 02:03:38,450
Commissioner Hoffman.

1538
02:03:38,650 --> 02:03:38,850
Yes.

1539
02:03:39,170 --> 02:03:39,850
Commissioner Benniki.

1540
02:03:40,150 --> 02:03:40,370
Yes.

1541
02:03:40,670 --> 02:03:41,410
Commissioner Asper.

1542
02:03:41,590 --> 02:03:41,770
Yes.

1543
02:03:41,770 --> 02:03:41,890
Yes.

1544
02:03:42,050 --> 02:03:42,870
Commissioner Heinzeling.

1545
02:03:43,050 --> 02:03:43,190
Yes.

1546
02:03:43,390 --> 02:03:43,810
Motion carries.

1547
02:03:44,110 --> 02:03:44,470
Thank you.

1548
02:03:44,730 --> 02:03:45,010
Thank you.

1549
02:03:45,290 --> 02:03:48,670
Next up, under consent agenda, item number one, approval of nine claims.

1550
02:03:49,250 --> 02:03:55,790
Letter A, check register dated August 21st, 2026, and the amount of 472,9929.

1551
02:03:56,750 --> 02:04:04,370
Letter B, check register dated August 28th, 2026, and the amount of 318,784,93, can I get a motion, please?

1552
02:04:04,450 --> 02:04:04,630
Move.

1553
02:04:04,910 --> 02:04:05,990
Move by Leavens.

1554
02:04:06,010 --> 02:04:06,190
Second.

1555
02:04:06,510 --> 02:04:07,510
Supported by Asper.

1556
02:04:07,810 --> 02:04:09,150
Any questions on the motion?

1557
02:04:09,150 --> 02:04:12,230
and hearing none, roll call please.

1558
02:04:12,670 --> 02:04:13,270
Commissioner Venzel.

1559
02:04:13,710 --> 02:04:13,830
Yes.

1560
02:04:14,170 --> 02:04:14,830
Commissioner Swardow.

1561
02:04:14,990 --> 02:04:15,130
Yes.

1562
02:04:15,510 --> 02:04:15,990
Commissioner Moore.

1563
02:04:16,350 --> 02:04:16,570
Yes.

1564
02:04:16,870 --> 02:04:17,670
Commissioner Levance.

1565
02:04:17,870 --> 02:04:18,010
Yes.

1566
02:04:18,350 --> 02:04:19,030
Commissioner Hoffman.

1567
02:04:19,290 --> 02:04:19,470
Yes.

1568
02:04:19,810 --> 02:04:20,490
Commissioner Benniki.

1569
02:04:20,770 --> 02:04:20,950
Yes.

1570
02:04:21,330 --> 02:04:22,030
Commissioner Asper.

1571
02:04:22,210 --> 02:04:22,370
Yes.

1572
02:04:22,690 --> 02:04:23,410
Commissioner Heinzeling.

1573
02:04:23,610 --> 02:04:23,730
Yes.

1574
02:04:24,090 --> 02:04:24,710
Commissioner Lamor.

1575
02:04:24,850 --> 02:04:25,010
Yes.

1576
02:04:25,270 --> 02:04:25,750
Motion carries.

1577
02:04:27,570 --> 02:04:29,470
Next time the agenda under communications

1578
02:04:30,050 --> 02:04:33,330
is a letter dated August 26, 2026,

1579
02:04:33,330 --> 02:04:35,510
for a vulnerable man to eye care first district court judge

1580
02:04:35,510 --> 02:04:38,050
requesting confirmation of the submitted application

1581
02:04:38,050 --> 02:04:43,590
addition and acceptance of additional funding for the operational grant fiscal year 2025-26.

1582
02:04:44,210 --> 02:04:52,830
Monroe County sobriety court, MCSC, to the State Court Administrative Office in the amount of $1,680 to get a motion.

1583
02:04:53,050 --> 02:04:56,810
Will by Leyvans supported by Heinzerling, any questions on the motion?

1584
02:04:58,880 --> 02:04:59,860
Hearing none, roll call please.

1585
02:05:00,300 --> 02:05:00,980
Commissioner Swardau.

1586
02:05:01,220 --> 02:05:01,380
Yes.

1587
02:05:01,760 --> 02:05:02,300
Commissioner Moore.

1588
02:05:02,700 --> 02:05:03,040
Yes.

1589
02:05:03,360 --> 02:05:04,060
Commissioner Levans.

1590
02:05:04,220 --> 02:05:04,340
Yes.

1591
02:05:04,760 --> 02:05:05,480
Commissioner Hoffman.

1592
02:05:05,720 --> 02:05:05,920
Yes.

1593
02:05:06,220 --> 02:05:06,880
Commissioner Benniki.

1594
02:05:07,180 --> 02:05:07,360
Yes.

1595
02:05:07,660 --> 02:05:08,420
Commissioner Asper.

1596
02:05:08,600 --> 02:05:08,780
Yes.

1597
02:05:08,780 --> 02:05:09,880
Yes. Commissioner Heinzeling.

1598
02:05:10,180 --> 02:05:10,340
Yes.

1599
02:05:10,540 --> 02:05:11,220
Commissioner Lamor.

1600
02:05:11,420 --> 02:05:11,560
Yes.

1601
02:05:11,840 --> 02:05:12,520
Commissioner Vendel.

1602
02:05:12,700 --> 02:05:12,820
Yes.

1603
02:05:13,040 --> 02:05:13,500
Motion carries.

1604
02:05:14,640 --> 02:05:19,500
Next item is a letter dated August 27th, 2026 from Honorable Michael Brown, First District

1605
02:05:19,500 --> 02:05:25,780
Court Judge requesting approval of, for funding of $70,650 to the District Court to cover

1606
02:05:26,380 --> 02:05:31,120
shortfalls in the Court's budget for the use of electronic monitoring of defendant's

1607
02:05:31,120 --> 02:05:31,560
credit motion.

1608
02:05:31,720 --> 02:05:32,020
Thank you, motion.

1609
02:05:32,360 --> 02:05:32,800
I'll start recording.

1610
02:05:33,040 --> 02:05:34,860
Move by Heinzeling supported by Swardout.

1611
02:05:35,340 --> 02:05:36,460
Any questions on this motion?

1612
02:05:39,370 --> 02:05:40,630
Hearing none, roll call please.

1613
02:05:40,630 --> 02:05:40,810
please.

1614
02:05:40,990 --> 02:05:41,570
Commissioner Moore.

1615
02:05:41,890 --> 02:05:42,130
Yes.

1616
02:05:42,490 --> 02:05:43,130
Commissioner Levens.

1617
02:05:43,430 --> 02:05:43,590
Yes.

1618
02:05:43,930 --> 02:05:44,690
Commissioner Hoffman.

1619
02:05:45,010 --> 02:05:45,190
Yes.

1620
02:05:45,430 --> 02:05:46,170
Commissioner Benenky.

1621
02:05:46,390 --> 02:05:46,610
Yes.

1622
02:05:46,910 --> 02:05:47,770
Commissioner Asperr.

1623
02:05:47,810 --> 02:05:48,010
Yes.

1624
02:05:48,370 --> 02:05:49,090
Commissioner Heinzling.

1625
02:05:49,410 --> 02:05:49,550
Yes.

1626
02:05:49,770 --> 02:05:50,490
Commissioner Lamor.

1627
02:05:50,710 --> 02:05:50,910
Yes.

1628
02:05:51,210 --> 02:05:51,870
Commissioner Venzel.

1629
02:05:52,110 --> 02:05:52,270
Yes.

1630
02:05:52,570 --> 02:05:53,330
Commissioner Swordout.

1631
02:05:53,530 --> 02:05:53,690
Yes.

1632
02:05:53,950 --> 02:05:54,430
Motion carries.

1633
02:05:55,850 --> 02:05:58,930
Next up is a letter dated March 25th, 2026

1634
02:05:58,930 --> 02:06:01,510
for Miss Susan Meyer, Director of Fiscal Services

1635
02:06:01,510 --> 02:06:03,510
and Jeff McBean, Human Resources Director

1636
02:06:03,510 --> 02:06:06,250
requesting authorization for a fiscal manager position

1637
02:06:06,250 --> 02:06:08,610
within the finance department at no additional cost

1638
02:06:08,610 --> 02:06:14,750
to the general fund for 2,026 due to department vacancies, could I get a motion on this?

1639
02:06:14,930 --> 02:06:16,010
So moved, seconded.

1640
02:06:16,290 --> 02:06:22,890
By leave and supported by Lamor, I'll turn it over to Jeff and Sue, if for any questions.

1641
02:06:23,890 --> 02:06:25,470
We'll remember to have any questions on this.

1642
02:06:25,770 --> 02:06:26,910
This for one year from now.

1643
02:06:27,890 --> 02:06:28,750
This would be ongoing.

1644
02:06:28,970 --> 02:06:29,950
Yeah, I'm going, I'm going.

1645
02:06:30,610 --> 02:06:34,470
Y'all long you've been Sue without the help, much old.

1646
02:06:34,470 --> 02:06:36,190
So we asked for this in March.

1647
02:06:36,770 --> 02:06:38,370
This would have been a new position.

1648
02:06:38,850 --> 02:06:44,710
We asked for it in March given the increased operational transactions that we have.

1649
02:06:44,830 --> 02:06:49,450
We have the new software that we just converted to the last quarter of last year.

1650
02:06:49,450 --> 02:06:52,030
We're working on the budget prep software right now.

1651
02:06:53,610 --> 02:06:56,030
But you've been sure, you've been sure many years, so I have a job.

1652
02:06:56,410 --> 02:06:56,670
Yes.

1653
02:06:57,010 --> 02:06:57,990
One man band, yes.

1654
02:06:59,090 --> 02:07:03,550
Well, we do have a team, it's not just a one man band, but it is a very small team and

1655
02:07:03,550 --> 02:07:08,670
And that has been talked about by the auditors multiple times we've looked at comparable counties.

1656
02:07:08,970 --> 02:07:15,030
I mean, in every place that you look, comparatively we are very, very short staffed and

1657
02:07:15,030 --> 02:07:19,150
we are not able to meet the obligations of our department at this time.

1658
02:07:20,030 --> 02:07:20,270
Thank you.

1659
02:07:21,130 --> 02:07:22,330
Any other questions or comments?

1660
02:07:24,290 --> 02:07:28,750
I would just say I guess the comparable county chart was very telling.

1661
02:07:28,750 --> 02:07:33,350
We have Barion, Calhoun, Eaton, Jackson, Lennoy, Livingston, Muskegon, St.

1662
02:07:33,530 --> 02:07:33,910
Claire Monroe.

1663
02:07:35,190 --> 02:07:43,090
If we combine admin, finance, and HR, those numbers are 12, 18, 10, 12, 13, 15, 14, 11.

1664
02:07:43,490 --> 02:07:45,070
And Monroe is the only single digit at nine.

1665
02:07:45,610 --> 02:07:48,990
So it does look comparatively, there is some need there.

1666
02:07:49,190 --> 02:07:52,090
I'd be apt to vote yes.

1667
02:07:56,380 --> 02:07:57,220
Roll call, please.

1668
02:07:57,660 --> 02:07:58,340
Commissioner Levens.

1669
02:07:58,700 --> 02:07:58,860
Yes.

1670
02:07:59,320 --> 02:07:59,960
Commissioner Hoffman?

1671
02:08:00,240 --> 02:08:00,480
Yes.

1672
02:08:00,480 --> 02:08:00,600
Yes.

1673
02:08:00,760 --> 02:08:01,600
Commissioner Beninke?

1674
02:08:01,840 --> 02:08:02,060
Yes.

1675
02:08:02,380 --> 02:08:03,140
Commissioner Asper?

1676
02:08:03,440 --> 02:08:03,660
Yes.

1677
02:08:03,920 --> 02:08:04,680
Commissioner Heinzling?

1678
02:08:04,920 --> 02:08:05,080
Yes.

1679
02:08:05,360 --> 02:08:06,100
Commissioner Lomore?

1680
02:08:06,300 --> 02:08:06,440
Yes.

1681
02:08:06,740 --> 02:08:07,540
Commissioner Vendel?

1682
02:08:07,700 --> 02:08:07,840
Yes.

1683
02:08:08,060 --> 02:08:08,840
Commissioner Swordow?

1684
02:08:09,100 --> 02:08:09,300
Yes.

1685
02:08:09,560 --> 02:08:10,060
Commissioner Moore?

1686
02:08:10,440 --> 02:08:10,620
Yes.

1687
02:08:10,840 --> 02:08:11,300
Motion carries.

1688
02:08:13,640 --> 02:08:17,760
Next item is a letter dated August 19th, 2026 from Mr. Bradley Smith.

1689
02:08:17,880 --> 02:08:23,340
Emergency Management Director requesting approval to accept the 2025 Homeland Security Grant program

1690
02:08:23,660 --> 02:08:30,180
in a local funding agreement between McComb County and Monroe County in the amount of $366,624

1691
02:08:30,180 --> 02:08:32,420
$4 with no local match required, kind of get emotional.

1692
02:08:33,500 --> 02:08:35,620
Move behind the link supported by Huffman.

1693
02:08:36,960 --> 02:08:38,620
Any questions for Mr. Smith?

1694
02:08:39,540 --> 02:08:43,780
Mr. Smith, what is the 2025 Homeland Security Grant Program?

1695
02:08:43,900 --> 02:08:47,500
You may have told us in the past, but it's not ringing a bell.

1696
02:08:48,020 --> 02:08:50,920
It's a repetitive grant.

1697
02:08:51,080 --> 02:08:53,280
It's every year there's a new grant system.

1698
02:08:53,780 --> 02:08:58,560
We are in the U.S., you raised an urban area security initiative, which is seven counties plus the city of Detroit.

1699
02:08:58,560 --> 02:09:02,740
and those funds are doled out according to a grading skill through the state

1700
02:09:02,740 --> 02:09:07,760
police emergency management division. So this money comes to the state through

1701
02:09:07,760 --> 02:09:13,340
the state to McComb County is the producer. And once those monies are doled out

1702
02:09:13,340 --> 02:09:19,700
then each county is a lot of their specific amount. So of this we rank I believe

1703
02:09:19,700 --> 02:09:26,780
six on the list. So we get we're the six lowest of the seven counties where

1704
02:09:26,780 --> 02:09:28,360
there were six counties, seven counties plus Detroit.

1705
02:09:29,620 --> 02:09:31,780
Is it general fund money or is the money earmarked

1706
02:09:31,780 --> 02:09:32,720
for certain services?

1707
02:09:33,000 --> 02:09:34,520
The birth management for, so for home and security,

1708
02:09:34,520 --> 02:09:36,820
so some of it has to do with law enforcement.

1709
02:09:36,980 --> 02:09:38,220
We have to do election protection.

1710
02:09:38,540 --> 02:09:40,540
So in the past, we've gotten the barricades

1711
02:09:40,540 --> 02:09:41,440
for the sheriff's office.

1712
02:09:42,380 --> 02:09:44,940
We've gotten dive equipment for the sheriff's office as well.

1713
02:09:45,400 --> 02:09:48,580
We're gonna be doing community emergency response

1714
02:09:48,580 --> 02:09:49,260
team training.

1715
02:09:49,320 --> 02:09:51,020
So we're starting up a search team with the county.

1716
02:09:51,380 --> 02:09:53,000
So we're gonna be getting some equipment with that

1717
02:09:53,000 --> 02:09:56,180
with that as well as some of it takes care

1718
02:09:56,180 --> 02:10:00,720
of office supplies and things like that, but very limited, there are areas that we have

1719
02:10:00,720 --> 02:10:04,140
to spend this money in, and that is mostly law enforcement and election security.

1720
02:10:04,580 --> 02:10:08,000
Okay, so there are some earmarks in the zone that is also up to the discretion of you

1721
02:10:08,000 --> 02:10:08,940
and your board and your department.

1722
02:10:09,240 --> 02:10:09,500
Yes, sir.

1723
02:10:10,360 --> 02:10:11,400
Yeah, kind of arcley.

1724
02:10:11,520 --> 02:10:12,100
Okay, thank you.

1725
02:10:12,240 --> 02:10:12,360
Yeah.

1726
02:10:12,660 --> 02:10:13,260
I have one question.

1727
02:10:13,540 --> 02:10:13,760
Yes, sir.

1728
02:10:14,080 --> 02:10:17,680
How much of this has to be shared over at Cone County?

1729
02:10:18,260 --> 02:10:19,600
This all are, okay, hit?

1730
02:10:19,820 --> 02:10:21,340
This is our, this is our lot, yes.

1731
02:10:21,340 --> 02:10:24,860
Yes, and in the past, the amount has been dwindling.

1732
02:10:25,100 --> 02:10:26,740
Now we're seeing an uptick in funds.

1733
02:10:26,920 --> 02:10:30,720
So this is actually a belief, I can get you the numbers.

1734
02:10:30,880 --> 02:10:34,640
But it is an uptick from last year's, 2020, fours allotment.

1735
02:10:35,200 --> 02:10:36,280
Thank you, sir.

1736
02:10:37,180 --> 02:10:37,600
Thank you, sir.

1737
02:10:39,620 --> 02:10:41,400
Seeing no other questions, roll call please.

1738
02:10:41,980 --> 02:10:42,620
Commissioner Hoffman.

1739
02:10:42,960 --> 02:10:43,120
Yes.

1740
02:10:43,500 --> 02:10:44,120
Commissioner Benniki.

1741
02:10:44,440 --> 02:10:44,620
Yes.

1742
02:10:44,980 --> 02:10:45,660
Commissioner Asper.

1743
02:10:45,860 --> 02:10:46,040
Yes.

1744
02:10:46,400 --> 02:10:47,120
Commissioner Heinzling.

1745
02:10:47,340 --> 02:10:47,480
Yes.

1746
02:10:47,880 --> 02:10:48,500
Commissioner Lamor.

1747
02:10:48,740 --> 02:10:48,940
Yes.

1748
02:10:49,360 --> 02:10:50,020
Commissioner Venzel.

1749
02:10:50,200 --> 02:10:50,360
Yes.

1750
02:10:50,360 --> 02:10:50,480
Yes.

1751
02:10:50,740 --> 02:10:51,560
Commissioner Swardout?

1752
02:10:51,840 --> 02:10:52,040
Yes.

1753
02:10:52,320 --> 02:10:52,960
Commissioner Moore?

1754
02:10:53,360 --> 02:10:53,540
Yes.

1755
02:10:53,840 --> 02:10:54,520
Commissioner Leven?

1756
02:10:54,780 --> 02:10:54,900
Yes.

1757
02:10:55,100 --> 02:10:55,620
Motion carries.

1758
02:10:57,220 --> 02:11:02,640
Next up is the letter dated August 26, 2026 from Crystal Comer, Fiscal Manager requesting

1759
02:11:02,640 --> 02:11:08,320
approval to apply and accept the fiscal year 2025 operation Stone Garden grant in the amount

1760
02:11:08,320 --> 02:11:16,140
of $63,375 for the grant period of September 1, 25 through July 31, 2028 with no local

1761
02:11:16,140 --> 02:11:17,960
if I could get a motion, please.

1762
02:11:18,180 --> 02:11:20,160
Who by sword out supported by Lamor.

1763
02:11:20,360 --> 02:11:21,800
Any questions on this motion?

1764
02:11:23,880 --> 02:11:24,960
Seeing none, roll call, please.

1765
02:11:25,440 --> 02:11:26,100
Commissioner Beninke.

1766
02:11:26,500 --> 02:11:26,660
Yes.

1767
02:11:26,960 --> 02:11:27,720
Commissioner Asper.

1768
02:11:27,980 --> 02:11:28,140
Yes.

1769
02:11:28,580 --> 02:11:29,280
Commissioner Heinzeling.

1770
02:11:29,400 --> 02:11:29,520
Yes.

1771
02:11:30,040 --> 02:11:30,740
Commissioner Lamor.

1772
02:11:30,920 --> 02:11:31,140
Yes.

1773
02:11:31,480 --> 02:11:32,160
Commissioner Vendel.

1774
02:11:32,380 --> 02:11:32,540
Yes.

1775
02:11:32,900 --> 02:11:33,720
Commissioner Sword out.

1776
02:11:33,900 --> 02:11:34,060
Yes.

1777
02:11:34,400 --> 02:11:35,040
Commissioner Lamor.

1778
02:11:35,300 --> 02:11:35,520
Yes.

1779
02:11:35,880 --> 02:11:36,560
Commissioner Levens.

1780
02:11:36,900 --> 02:11:37,020
Yes.

1781
02:11:37,420 --> 02:11:38,200
Commissioner Hoffman.

1782
02:11:38,540 --> 02:11:38,760
Yes.

1783
02:11:38,960 --> 02:11:39,380
Motion carries.

1784
02:11:42,270 --> 02:11:44,330
Next item is a letter dated August 25th,

1785
02:11:44,890 --> 02:11:46,470
2026 from Mr. Mark Cochrane,

1786
02:11:46,570 --> 02:11:48,230
chairman of the Community Mental Health Partnership

1787
02:11:48,230 --> 02:11:52,750
of Southeast Michigan, Oversight Policy Board, recommending the reappointment of Mr.

1788
02:11:52,870 --> 02:11:58,230
Tom Waldecker to the Oversight Policy Board for a three-year term, commencing October

1789
02:11:58,230 --> 02:12:03,510
1, 2026 and ending October 1, 2029 could get a motion taken.

1790
02:12:04,070 --> 02:12:04,650
Move by Lamor.

1791
02:12:05,230 --> 02:12:05,710
I'll say that.

1792
02:12:05,770 --> 02:12:06,710
Supported by Huffman.

1793
02:12:07,150 --> 02:12:08,330
Any questions on this motion?

1794
02:12:11,020 --> 02:12:13,980
I could just say that I know Tom Decker and he does a good job.

1795
02:12:14,440 --> 02:12:14,740
Okay.

1796
02:12:14,880 --> 02:12:16,060
He does a real good job on this committee.

1797
02:12:16,660 --> 02:12:16,780
Good.

1798
02:12:17,820 --> 02:12:17,960
Good.

1799
02:12:18,720 --> 02:12:19,760
roll call, please.

1800
02:12:20,180 --> 02:12:21,140
Commissioner Asperr?

1801
02:12:21,200 --> 02:12:21,360
Yes.

1802
02:12:21,680 --> 02:12:22,500
Commissioner Heinzeling?

1803
02:12:22,740 --> 02:12:22,900
Yes.

1804
02:12:23,180 --> 02:12:23,860
Commissioner Lamor?

1805
02:12:24,080 --> 02:12:24,260
Yes.

1806
02:12:24,560 --> 02:12:25,240
Commissioner Venzel?

1807
02:12:25,460 --> 02:12:25,620
Yes.

1808
02:12:25,940 --> 02:12:26,680
Commissioner Sourdough?

1809
02:12:26,840 --> 02:12:27,000
Yes.

1810
02:12:27,380 --> 02:12:27,980
Commissioner Moore?

1811
02:12:28,340 --> 02:12:28,620
Yes.

1812
02:12:28,900 --> 02:12:29,760
Commissioner Leavins?

1813
02:12:30,040 --> 02:12:30,180
Yes.

1814
02:12:30,440 --> 02:12:31,240
Commissioner Hoffman?

1815
02:12:31,460 --> 02:12:31,660
Yes.

1816
02:12:31,940 --> 02:12:32,700
Commissioner Benenke?

1817
02:12:32,960 --> 02:12:33,140
Yes.

1818
02:12:33,360 --> 02:12:33,840
Motion carries.

1819
02:12:34,740 --> 02:12:39,200
Next time is the letter dated August 27th, 2026 from Mr. David Venzel board of

1820
02:12:39,200 --> 02:12:42,580
Commissioner Chairman transmitting the three recommended appointments to the

1821
02:12:42,580 --> 02:12:47,020
middle county bicycle and pedestrian advisory panel for three, your terms,

1822
02:12:47,020 --> 02:12:54,880
I'm just commencing September 1, 26th and ending August 31st, 2029, the recommended appointments are Lucy Forten, Jim Gardner and Al Pryor.

1823
02:12:55,760 --> 02:12:57,020
I could get a motion, please.

1824
02:12:57,340 --> 02:13:01,760
So moved by Leavens, supported by Lamor, any questions on this motion.

1825
02:13:04,220 --> 02:13:05,440
Seeing none, roll call, please.

1826
02:13:06,040 --> 02:13:06,840
Commissioner Heinjeling.

1827
02:13:07,080 --> 02:13:07,240
Yes.

1828
02:13:07,580 --> 02:13:08,260
Commissioner Lamor.

1829
02:13:08,480 --> 02:13:08,680
Yes.

1830
02:13:09,020 --> 02:13:09,720
Commissioner Venzel.

1831
02:13:10,020 --> 02:13:10,160
Yes.

1832
02:13:10,440 --> 02:13:11,200
Commissioner Sword out.

1833
02:13:11,460 --> 02:13:11,640
Yes.

1834
02:13:11,940 --> 02:13:12,520
Commissioner Lamor.

1835
02:13:12,760 --> 02:13:13,220
Yes.

1836
02:13:13,520 --> 02:13:14,440
Commissioner Leavens.

1837
02:13:14,640 --> 02:13:14,800
Yes.

1838
02:13:15,140 --> 02:13:15,900
Commissioner Hoffman.

1839
02:13:16,140 --> 02:13:16,400
Yes.

1840
02:13:16,400 --> 02:13:17,460
Yes. Commissioner Benicke?

1841
02:13:17,640 --> 02:13:17,940
Yes.

1842
02:13:18,220 --> 02:13:18,960
Commissioner Asper?

1843
02:13:19,180 --> 02:13:20,080
Yes. Motion carries.

1844
02:13:21,380 --> 02:13:22,680
We have no public hearings.

1845
02:13:23,060 --> 02:13:25,360
Is there any old business to board wishes to take up?

1846
02:13:28,500 --> 02:13:29,900
Hearing none, new business.

1847
02:13:32,040 --> 02:13:34,940
You know, can I add to the, for next meeting possibly,

1848
02:13:35,440 --> 02:13:38,220
our lady from corrections meeting, Holly,

1849
02:13:38,500 --> 02:13:41,060
she done a good job on, I'd like to have her come and represent

1850
02:13:41,720 --> 02:13:43,940
and show us the programs that she offers over the process.

1851
02:13:45,300 --> 02:13:47,520
And she could give a presentation and give her five minutes

1852
02:13:47,520 --> 02:13:48,080
That's for 10 minutes.

1853
02:13:48,320 --> 02:13:48,760
Be great.

1854
02:13:49,180 --> 02:13:49,360
All right.

1855
02:13:49,700 --> 02:13:50,160
Thank you.

1856
02:13:54,810 --> 02:13:58,890
Hearing no other new business, we now move into our final segment of public comment, are

1857
02:13:58,890 --> 02:14:00,570
there citizens who wish to address the board?

1858
02:14:06,520 --> 02:14:08,080
I'm just up here to say thank you.

1859
02:14:08,280 --> 02:14:10,340
I've never been more proud to be in Monroe.

1860
02:14:11,780 --> 02:14:19,440
I appreciate anyone that is upholding our Constitution and anyone that's nervous about crime and

1861
02:14:19,440 --> 02:14:19,820
all that.

1862
02:14:20,060 --> 02:14:26,540
The best thing that you can possibly do is make a good community, make friends, make

1863
02:14:26,540 --> 02:14:47,540
like look out for each other and do like French town is doing a lot of community things together to get everyone together I think that's amazing and I just I really you got to hear us all great and complain and I just want to tell you from the bottom of my heart I freaking appreciate every single one that voted for this. Thank you so much.

1864
02:14:51,740 --> 02:14:53,800
Any other citizens who wish to address the board?

1865
02:14:56,980 --> 02:14:59,880
Seeing none, we have no announcements that I know of.

1866
02:15:00,000 --> 02:15:29,640
I'll now move into members' time, Commissioner Asper. I guess I would just say I really appreciate everyone coming tonight that that spoke that, I know it's not easy to go up to the podium and talk in front of a bunch of people and I just really appreciate that people use their their rights to just come up here and give us their opinion and so forth. And it was just good to see it as I won't even say bipartisan, I would say nonpartisan because when it comes down to we really need to do what's best for everyone.

1867
02:15:29,640 --> 02:15:35,240
and we need to stick with the very, very smart men who set up the Constitution.

1868
02:15:36,140 --> 02:15:40,140
And I just would like to thank you all for doing that and coming up here and doing that.

1869
02:15:40,640 --> 02:15:45,080
And I also, you know, if you haven't been here to other meetings, please come on a regular basis

1870
02:15:45,080 --> 02:15:51,600
and then there won't be any misunderstandings. But I think a point that our sheriff made that is so

1871
02:15:51,600 --> 02:16:00,200
good is that we know that he's an honest person, we know how he operates whatever, but in any

1872
02:16:00,200 --> 02:16:06,440
area of government, we don't know who's going to sit in that seat next, and that's why we continue

1873
02:16:06,440 --> 02:16:13,140
to preserve our constitution. We're not going to just say, oh well, this person does this job well,

1874
02:16:13,200 --> 02:16:18,980
so we'll give him every possible power in the universe. And it was clear from what you were saying

1875
02:16:18,980 --> 02:16:22,960
tonight that you understood that, and it was just really good to hear it all, so thank

1876
02:16:22,960 --> 02:16:23,240
you.

1877
02:16:26,000 --> 02:16:26,720
Mr. Moore?

1878
02:16:27,780 --> 02:16:33,280
I would just echo what Commissioner Asper said as well.

1879
02:16:33,700 --> 02:16:36,940
I think that's the way the country is set up.

1880
02:16:37,020 --> 02:16:38,300
We have constitutional principles.

1881
02:16:38,380 --> 02:16:42,640
You have elected officials that hold those positions for a time, but from those principles,

1882
02:16:43,320 --> 02:16:44,440
we can't stray.

1883
02:16:44,440 --> 02:16:55,440
I would also say for anyone positioning this as a, you know, a flock versus support for law enforcement, I would say that's a false dichotomy.

1884
02:16:55,700 --> 02:16:59,320
I fully support our sheriff. I've lived in Monroe County for 45 years.

1885
02:16:59,660 --> 02:17:05,160
He's by far the best sheriff that I've ever personally known. He's very, I as an open-door policy.

1886
02:17:05,760 --> 02:17:12,520
We can have some disagreements fundamentally on how to police, but at the end of the day, I do believe

1887
02:17:12,520 --> 02:17:19,080
He has a heart for public safety, and he does want to know what the community is thinking.

1888
02:17:19,260 --> 02:17:23,600
We haven't always had that in the past with Sheriff's, but to Commissioner Asfers Point and

1889
02:17:23,600 --> 02:17:29,440
some other people, Commissioner Levins Point, there will be someone there in the future differently.

1890
02:17:29,820 --> 02:17:35,080
And I think it's safe to err on the side of the Constitution in those matters.

1891
02:17:35,540 --> 02:17:37,280
Other than that, I do appreciate everyone coming.

1892
02:17:37,500 --> 02:17:41,860
It's not easy to take off work, leave the kids, you know, you have things to do.

1893
02:17:41,860 --> 02:17:48,160
have to get up and speak in public. It's not a fun thing, but I think liberty is an important thing,

1894
02:17:48,160 --> 02:17:51,640
and all the people that showed up tonight showed that, and I appreciate you guys. Thanks.

1895
02:17:54,040 --> 02:17:57,560
Commissioner Swardout? Well, I appreciate everybody coming tonight. I think this is probably,

1896
02:17:57,560 --> 02:18:02,900
you would agree, the biggest well- attended meeting we've had. And I'd like to see everybody

1897
02:18:02,900 --> 02:18:04,900
back next meeting too.

1898
02:18:08,650 --> 02:18:12,950
Commissioner Benickey. I'd like to say I wish I had more in black tonight because

1899
02:18:12,950 --> 02:18:21,550
the seat's pretty dusty. I appreciate the help I had along the way. I appreciate the

1900
02:18:21,550 --> 02:18:29,650
prayers. This has been a long ordeal dis-election in the whole system, but I went through the

1901
02:18:29,650 --> 02:18:37,030
legal system and the legal system works slow sometimes. A lot of times you get frustrated,

1902
02:18:37,550 --> 02:18:42,610
but it all works out in the end. It was somewhat of a win for me, but it was a bigger win for

1903
02:18:42,610 --> 02:18:47,590
the people of district two we haven't had any representation in a long time and I'm ready

1904
02:18:47,590 --> 02:18:52,110
to move forward to help the people of district two and the county we have a lot of issues but

1905
02:18:52,110 --> 02:18:57,950
the main thing is prosperity for the residents of this county and that's what I want to do along

1906
02:18:57,950 --> 02:19:04,750
with this commission to work forward to economic stability and good education and good housing for all

1907
02:19:04,750 --> 02:19:08,270
the people of Monroe County and I thank everyone for all their support over the years. Thank you.

1908
02:19:11,570 --> 02:19:12,930
Commissioner Heiserlin.

1909
02:19:13,610 --> 02:19:15,970
Appreciate everyone coming out tonight and voicing your opinions.

1910
02:19:16,270 --> 02:19:17,690
That's what makes this country great, you know.

1911
02:19:18,010 --> 02:19:19,730
And we got schools starting.

1912
02:19:20,070 --> 02:19:21,850
Watch out for the little ones crossing the streets.

1913
02:19:22,350 --> 02:19:25,530
And good luck to all the parents with kids going into school right now.

1914
02:19:26,630 --> 02:19:27,110
Thank you.

1915
02:19:28,210 --> 02:19:28,630
Commissioner Levens.

1916
02:19:29,210 --> 02:19:32,130
I want to echo all the commissioners comments up to this point.

1917
02:19:32,450 --> 02:19:35,670
Hopefully I'll be able to echo them going forward but I don't know what you're going to say.

1918
02:19:35,670 --> 02:19:43,710
So, I do echo everyone from Commissioner's Asperger, more sward out to welcome you, Commissioner

1919
02:19:43,710 --> 02:19:44,190
Benickey.

1920
02:19:44,470 --> 02:19:46,830
I'm glad that that chapter is hopefully now closed.

1921
02:19:47,750 --> 02:19:50,570
And I'm proud of this board and I'm proud of the work we did today.

1922
02:19:50,810 --> 02:19:51,550
It was in pleasant.

1923
02:19:51,690 --> 02:19:58,290
We had two hours of public comment time, and I don't remember in my many years of being

1924
02:19:58,290 --> 02:20:05,310
on this board, having such an outpouring and participation in this process.

1925
02:20:05,310 --> 02:20:17,910
and that's amazing, but I would welcome the good words of putting this together and having

1926
02:20:17,910 --> 02:20:21,290
it before the board for everybody, but that wouldn't be entirely accurate.

1927
02:20:21,570 --> 02:20:27,310
And so I'm a little bit okay with taking the credit for a little bit of plagiarism, but

1928
02:20:27,310 --> 02:20:28,730
not a whole bunch of plagiarism.

1929
02:20:28,730 --> 02:20:57,650
And so, you'll notice on the last page of that resolution in about an eight font indicates that this resolution that was passed before the board today was by my newest associate, Autumn Russo, who is hiding in the doorframe back there, who actually wrote this resolution and told me is her second week employee in my law firm, Mr. Levens, if you don't do this, if you don't stand on the phallax of perfecting our constitution, I'm not going to work for you.

1930
02:20:57,650 --> 02:21:00,650
And possibly some other physical violence.

1931
02:21:01,710 --> 02:21:04,790
And so I said, autumn, this is a terrible can of worms.

1932
02:21:04,790 --> 02:21:07,570
She says, you want to go fishing, you got to open up that can of worms.

1933
02:21:08,050 --> 02:21:09,390
And so that's what we did today.

1934
02:21:09,610 --> 02:21:16,390
And I'm so happy for her encouragement, her great work product that I took a little bit of credit for.

1935
02:21:16,910 --> 02:21:21,870
And what we got done today, and hopefully it's an inspiration to the other levels of government,

1936
02:21:21,870 --> 02:21:38,310
the city's townships, the state, the nation to know that as we celebrate 250 years of this wonderful republic that we're not going to let it fail, that we're going to make sure that what we do today in the future gives us another 250 years. So thank you.

1937
02:21:40,920 --> 02:21:41,760
Mr. Hoffman.

1938
02:21:42,000 --> 02:21:44,340
Yes, real quick. I'm going to echo what everybody else has said.

1939
02:21:44,460 --> 02:21:47,800
Thanks for everybody getting out here and being involved citizens and we appreciate that.

1940
02:21:48,300 --> 02:21:50,180
And we don't know if you don't talk to us.

1941
02:21:50,780 --> 02:21:54,560
I mean, I get a lot of calls too and I'm glad to see the performance out here tonight.

1942
02:21:55,180 --> 02:21:59,380
And then too, I've been all the way through since this whole mess.

1943
02:22:00,060 --> 02:22:04,060
I've been saying that the goodwill prevailed and it sure has here.

1944
02:22:04,840 --> 02:22:05,500
Dale is here.

1945
02:22:05,500 --> 02:22:24,380
And I'm going to still continue my calls to Lansing weekly since all this started we're trying to get legislation on both sides of the aisle to put this on the ballot so the voters can vote on it and that being, you know, if you're a felon or you're a convict, you don't belong up here.

1946
02:22:25,020 --> 02:22:27,020
We want that clear across our whole state.

1947
02:22:27,660 --> 02:22:33,640
I keep working on it, the Republican sizes are going to bite on it and I keep talking to the speaker and

1948
02:22:33,640 --> 02:22:39,560
but I'm not going to stop because we got him up here what we wanted to do but we're going to keep going forward.

1949
02:22:39,820 --> 02:22:40,160
Thank you.

1950
02:22:40,920 --> 02:22:41,820
Vice Chairman Lamor.

1951
02:22:42,080 --> 02:22:42,480
Thank you, Chairman.

1952
02:22:43,640 --> 02:22:44,580
Welcome back, Dale.

1953
02:22:45,220 --> 02:22:46,560
Nice to have you back here on the seat.

1954
02:22:48,080 --> 02:22:52,300
I'd like to thank all the commissioners for all their comments and I think they were great.

1955
02:22:53,420 --> 02:22:57,180
It's good to see that we deliberated as well as we did tonight.

1956
02:22:58,140 --> 02:23:04,700
Glad to see all the comments from our audience refreshing to see that Republicans, Democrats

1957
02:23:04,700 --> 02:23:05,800
can be all alike.

1958
02:23:06,320 --> 02:23:12,240
I think what this does tell us is that we are closer than we think we are.

1959
02:23:12,700 --> 02:23:17,640
We are a lot closer than we think we are, and we have to keep up that momentum to keep

1960
02:23:17,640 --> 02:23:18,260
that going.

1961
02:23:18,260 --> 02:23:22,760
And that's how we can respond as a democracy, as a country.

1962
02:23:23,760 --> 02:23:31,700
And tonight I thought what we saw here tonight was us upholding our roles over our concerns,

1963
02:23:32,180 --> 02:23:36,740
our safety concerns, my concern, overtaking that tool out of the tool test for my kids.

1964
02:23:38,320 --> 02:23:41,480
You know, hopefully maybe in six months, maybe in a year.

1965
02:23:41,580 --> 02:23:44,460
I don't know. Maybe the technology will change. I don't know.

1966
02:23:44,460 --> 02:23:54,460
But I'm glad to see how we responded tonight to protect the Constitution of United States America the Constitution of the state of Michigan, and that's what we took our oaths for.

1967
02:23:54,660 --> 02:24:01,740
So thank you commissioners for standing up to your oath, thank you to our constituents for coming out and voicing your opinions.

1968
02:24:02,360 --> 02:24:03,220
That's all I have.

1969
02:24:04,860 --> 02:24:06,660
I want to congratulate Mr. Besanick, anything else?

1970
02:24:08,980 --> 02:24:12,820
Well, I also echo the comments of my colleagues up on the board.

1971
02:24:12,960 --> 02:24:15,740
And I want to congratulate Commissioner Benicke and

1972
02:24:15,740 --> 02:24:18,020
welcome them back onto this board.

1973
02:24:18,520 --> 02:24:23,340
I do kind of like the fact that Commissioner Leven's isn't quite sure what I'm going to say.

1974
02:24:24,500 --> 02:24:29,760
But I will say this, tonight, to me was democracy in action.

1975
02:24:30,000 --> 02:24:32,860
If you don't participate in your democracy, you lose it.

1976
02:24:32,860 --> 02:24:37,700
and of the years that I taught American government to high school kids, this would have been the meeting

1977
02:24:37,700 --> 02:24:43,860
that I would have wanted to take my students because the passion, the preparation that was

1978
02:24:43,860 --> 02:24:53,460
taken place by the citizens who presented tonight, they gave me newfound hope that our democracy is

1979
02:24:53,460 --> 02:25:01,000
still strong, so I appreciate all the input in the public comment tonight. With that I will adjourn the

1980
02:25:01,000 --> 02:25:01,660
meeting. Thanks.