Crowd outbursts after Springfield City Council sends Flock camera resolution to committee without public hearing

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) -An angry outburst occurred at Springfield’s City Council meeting Monday night.

People who showed up to talk about a resolution relating to police use of automated license plate readers (ALPR)/Flock cameras were never allowed to speak.

The resolution calls for a review of the use of license plate readers by police.

Council members wrote that they want to ensure the cameras are being used appropriately, but when Springfield Mayor Jeff Schrag moved to send the resolution back to a committee, Councilman Brandon Jenson of Zone 3 asked that people in the audience be allowed to speak.

The outburst happened when council voted 5-3 to send the resolution to the city’s Plans and Policies Committee, a move that didn’t allow for any public hearing.

“All I’m trying to do is get people answers to some real questions that they’ve brought to us for months. And it’s a shame that it comes down to this sort of, I guess, theater that I’m a part of to try and help and get those answers,” said Jenson. “This isn’t how government is supposed to run. It’s just disappointing. And we’re not even allowing the folks to speak who clearly came out to share their voices tonight.”

“Committee meetings can take in public comment. And I think that probably is what should happen,” said Councilman Craig Hosmer, General Seat B. “In a committee, we can. We can get involved with the law enforcement. We can have (the) public come in. People can testify, get good information, try to make an intelligent decision, rather than trying to make a decision based on information that we’re not getting full information on.”

There will be a public hearing if the Plans and Policies Committee does send the resolution back to City Council. There’s no word yet on when that might happen.

KY3 caught up with people who signed up to speak at Monday night’s meeting but couldn’t.

“It just makes me wonder where we’re trying to go if something as straightforward as this gets referred to a policy committee to be shelved until who knows when,” said Isaac Protiva with Flock Out SGF. “It just makes me question where this city goes and honestly makes me question how much I want to invest in this city as a young person that moved here from deeper in the Ozarks.”

“We deserve to have this information public; it’s our right,” said Springfield resident Raylea Crockett. “We deserve to have a say in what goes on in this city, especially when it comes down to our privacy and surveillance in this town.”

To report a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com. Please include the article info in the subject line of the email.