Landowners question Flock camera placement

License plate reading cameras have sprung up on private property across northeast Dutchess County, but property owners have said they don’t have formal agreements and often disagreed with the chosen install locations.

Julie Schroeder, the owner of Silamar Farm just outside Millerton, said she agreed to let the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Department install a Flock Safety camera on her property more than two years ago. “I wanted them to put it by the woods,” she said, “to the north of us.”

Instead, Schroeder woke up one morning to find the camera roadside, on the edge of her northern field. “They didn’t give me any heads up,” Schroeder said. “It kind of gets in the way of our farm machinery.”

This was a handshake agreement: Schroeder has no formal contract signed with the sheriff or Flock, the Austin, Texas, -based company behind the cameras. One sheriff left her a business card, but it’s since gone missing. “I get a lot of business cards,” she said.

Schroeder’s Flock camera is an Automatic License Plate Reader, sometimes called ALPRs, and it’s one of a growing number in Northern Dutchess County.

By reading the license plates of passing cars, the camera is able to inform law enforcement of a suspect’s retroactive whereabouts. Nationally, there are over 100,000 ALPR cameras — most of them operated by Flock.

In northeast Dutchess, there are at least four Flock cameras so far. One is on Route 343, east of Amenia at the former Willows Motel.

That property was purchased in 2025 by an affiliate of Discovery Land Company, the parent company of members-only community Silo Ridge Field Club. A Discovery Land Company spokesperson said in April the plan is to rehabilitate the Willows and use it for seasonal employee housing, but could not be reached for further comment on the camera’s installation.

Another ALPR is on Route 82 in Pine Plains, on a private property adjacent to Hammertown Kennels.

A camera in Milan is on land owned by Mirror Lake Retreat on Route 199. Like Julie Schroeder, camp director Ron Pankey agreed to host a Flock camera, but said he was not informed where the camera would be installed, according to news reports.

In Millbrook, Flock cameras were deployed “as covert resources in response to a judicial threat made against a sitting judge residing in Millbrook,” according to Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony Parisi.

Parisi said in February the devices were “temporary in nature,” and have since been removed.

Schroeder has had an experience similar to Ron Pankey’s in Milan. “In the event of an emergency, we’ll be happy we have it,” she said. “But I wanted it up in the woods, north of us…they just put it up so quickly.”

Still, Schroeder doesn’t regret the partnership. “Big Brother is watching you,” she said with a laugh. “I value my privacy, but with cell phones and credit cards, they know exactly where you are.”

Flock cameras can also be found on properties in Amenia, Pine Plains, and Milan. The owners have volunteered to host the cameras on their property, providing Flock a way into communities that bypasses the local town boards.

In February, the Pine Plains town board came under fire for an undisclosed contract with Flock. The town was forced to cancel the contract and pending camera installations. An oversight resolution was adopted to require board approval for any additional cameras operated on behalf of the town.

Nationally, there are over 100,000 ALPR cameras — most of them manufactured by Flock.

Law enforcement in Dutchess County has championed the technology. “It’s been a huge success,” said Deputy Chief Sheriff Steve Reverri. Recent operations aided by Flock include cases concerning illegal guns, school bus safety, and garbage dumping.

The arrests are catalogued on the county’s “Transparency Portal,” a Flock Safety website the sheriff’s office uses to disclose camera locations, share policies, and highlight Flock’s contributions to arrests.

All of the seventeen locations listed in Dutchess County fall within three towns: Poughkeepsie, Fishkill, and Wappinger. The Flock cameras in Milan, Pine Plains, Amenia and North East are not listed on the transparency portal. The county doesn’t disclose the location of cameras on private property.

Reverri is thankful for the residents volunteering to host Flock cameras. “It’s a community project,” he said, and pointed towards the county’s ARTCIC site for a list of camera locations employed directly by law enforcement.

There are 64 total license plate reader cameras in the county, but the locations of cameras hosted by private residents are not listed.

Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony Parisi, in a February 2026 response to questions regarding the Flock camera on Schroeder’s property , said “we must balance transparency with the legitimate privacy rights and safety concerns of those private individuals who elect to cooperate.”

Flock Safety has not been immune to controversy amidst its national rollout. Two detectives in Wisconsin were accused this month of using the cameras for personal tracking and stalking. Five officers in Georgia were arrested for similarly non-professional use of the technology. Los Angeles Police Department suspended their use of Flock cameras this week, citing privacy concerns.

Flock has also made backdoor data access available to U.S. Border Patrol agents for purposes of immigration enforcement. Their security features have come under scrutiny from national lawmakers, who accuse Flock of lax protocols that have led to stolen police logins and international cybersecurity threats.