Elmhurst residents who spoke against a license plate reader contract at Thursday's council meeting didn't mince words: vote for it, and we'll work to vote you out.

The City Council approved Ordinance O-35-2026 unanimously on Thursday, Aug. 20, authorizing a one-year, $45,670.73 lease of 22 Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras. There was no debate.

The contract sat on the consent agenda, a bundle reserved for routine business that passes in a single vote. Any alderman could have pulled it for separate discussion. None did.

Before the vote, resident Matthew Noack warned of the "rampant potential for abuse" and urged aldermen to reject the deal.

"If you don't, I will make it my personal goal to be a pebble in your shoe, the blister on your ass and try to get you unseated and inform as many voters in the Elmhurst area as possible about your decision to violate our privacy," Noack told the council, according to Patch.

Andrea Boeke, who identified herself as Alderman Chris Jensen's neighbor, echoed the threat, pledging to mobilize other mothers to unseat aldermen who supported the cameras.

What the cameras do

Elmhurst first installed license plate readers in 2019 under a contract with Motorola Vigilant Solutions, creating a geofence at major entry and exit points to help police solve serious crimes. The ordinance states Motorola Vigilant had grown "cost prohibitive," prompting the switch to Flock.

The city's Public Affairs and Safety Committee unanimously approved the renewal on June 22 after Deputy Chief Brett Kaczorowski and Detective Commander Matthew McCollum presented cost comparisons and cited successful interdictions of stolen vehicles entering Elmhurst. Flock also aligns with the Illinois Attorney General's Organized Retail Crime Grant, which partially funds the program.

At the July 20 council meeting, Alderman Jacob Hill pulled the contract report from the consent agenda for separate discussion. Police Chief Michael McLean told aldermen that the Elmhurst Police Department cannot share camera data without police approval, a restriction written into the agreement. The council voted 13-0 to accept the report that night, with Alderman Mike Brennan calling the Flock cameras "superior technology" that is "cost effective."

Privacy backlash grows

Critics nationwide argue Flock has total control over the data it collects and shares information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Opponents also point to reports that states with abortion bans have used the cameras to track women seeking the procedure, and that individual officers have misused data to monitor romantic partners.

Officials in nearby Burr Ridge and Darien heard similar privacy arguments from residents in recent weeks, according to Patch.

Flock announced policy changes around Aug. 13, including reducing its default data retention period from 30 days to seven, requiring case codes for all searches, and allowing agencies to block other departments from using their cameras for immigration enforcement, according to GovTech. The ACLU's senior policy counsel Chad Marlow called the updates a "thinly veiled PR attempt."

No next council action on the cameras has been scheduled.