Pine Plains surveillance controversy prompts questions in other communities

The discovery of site markings suggesting surveillance cameras were being installed in Pine Plains prompted town officials to call an emergency meeting last week to clarify their position on the controversial technology.

The meeting, held Monday, Feb. 9, followed public outcry. Officials explained that the proposed cameras — license plate readers — were set to be installed on local roads.

In response to the criticism, Town Supervisor Brian Walsh said in a prepared statement that a member of the Pine Plains Police Department signed a contract in February 2025 with Atlanta-based surveillance company Flock Safety. He said the Town Board was not consulted and did not authorize the agreement.

Town officials said the project will not move forward and that the planned installation of the cameras has been halted.

The controversy also spilled over into neighboring Millerton, where residents questioned the Village Board of Trustees about potential surveillance efforts. Board members and Village Mayor Jenn Najdek said neither county officials nor representatives from Flock Safety have contacted the village about installing cameras.

License plate readers manufactured by Flock Safety started proliferating across Dutchess County after District Attorney Anthony Parisi and the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office secured funding for a unified surveillance system known as the Analysis and Real Time Crime Intelligence Center at the end of 2024.

The network comprises 371 cameras across the county, according to transparency.flocksafety.com/dutchess-county-ny-so, which serves as the county’s “transparency portal” for the Flock network. That network includes a camera in the Town of North East on Route 22 across from Silamar Farms and several temporary cameras in a neighborhood in the village of Millbrook.

Town of North East officials said they had no knowledge of the camera located on Route 22 near Harney & Sons Fine Teas Headquarters.

Najdek said she also was unaware and noted that the village has no jurisdiction over that location.

Millbrook Village Clerk Sarah J. Witt said she was unaware of the temporary cameras in the village located on light poles along Reservoir Drive and Maple Avenue.

Town of Washington officials in Town Hall on Reservoir Drive said they had noticed the cameras, but didn’t know why they were there, saying most of the traffic in the area is churchgoers, children and residents.

Village Mayor Peter Doro said he became aware of the cameras after Millbrook residents began asking questions, at which point Parisi told Doro the cameras were related to a covert, targeted surveillance operation and asked him not to share the information publicly.

In an email, Parisi said four cameras were installed in Millbrook after threats were made against a judge who lives in the village. He described the operation as temporary and said the cameras are set to be removed.

However, Parisi said the village had been notified before installation. “Prior to installation, the Village of Millbrook was advised,” he wrote.

The camera in North East, Parisi said, is permanent and part of a decade-old perimeter surveillance strategy that places license plate readers on major roads entering and leaving the county.

He said the camera is located on private property and is part of a broader effort to link private and public systems into a “professionally staffed, centralized intelligence center.”