Madeira's Flock surveillance camera policies are headed back to committee review, weeks after Hamilton County's sheriff shut off 75 cameras over concerns about how the company shares data.

The city's Law & Safety Committee will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 5 p.m. at the Madeira Municipal Building, 7141 Miami Ave. Crosswalk safety is also on the agenda.

Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey announced on Sept. 3 that her office was pausing all 75 of its Flock cameras, saying the county would not resume until stronger guardrails on data sharing are in place, Fox 19 reported.

Madeira has its own history with the debate. Council voted 5-2 on Jan. 26 to renew the city's Flock contract at roughly $62,000 per year, covering the existing camera system plus three additional cameras. Councilmembers Logan Junger and Jodi Whitted cast the two no votes.

Before that vote, council tabled the contract in December 2025 so the Law & Safety Committee could negotiate stronger privacy terms. The committee worked with Madeira's Flock representative to add a contract addendum, Councilmember Whitted reported to council on Jan. 26.

City Manager Mike Norton-Smith told council at the same meeting that Madeira does not share its camera data with Flock's national database except on an as-needed basis with the city's consent. Flock's liability under the contract is capped at about 50% of the contract value, and Norton-Smith said the company was unwilling to raise that cap, according to council minutes.

Junger had pushed for tighter controls at the Dec. 8, 2025, council meeting. "I would like to see additional protections for city and residents to be more in favor with contract renewal," he said, according to council minutes. "We want to control info shared with outside agencies such as ICE."

Resident concerns are not new either. Stephen Arthur of Windridge Drive spoke at the Jan. 8, 2024, council meeting about a Flock camera installed near the exit of his driveway, citing disappointment with communication before the installation.

The committee also discussed Flock cameras at a virtual meeting on July 28. No minutes from that session are publicly available.

Regional backdrop

The sheriff's pause has rippled across Greater Cincinnati. WLWT reported that each county camera costs about $3,000 per year, putting the full network's annual tab at roughly $225,000. McGuffey said the county can stop payments during the pause.

Multiple communities have ended or paused their own Flock programs, including Newport, Fort Mitchell, Fort Thomas, Erlanger and Taylor Mill in Kentucky, plus Oxford and Pierce Township in Ohio.

Cincinnati City Council is also set to discuss Flock policies on Tuesday, Sept. 8, with Councilmember Anna Albi requesting a report on cameras, drones and license plate readers, WLWT reported.

Flock Safety has responded to the scrutiny. The company cut its recommended data retention period from 30 days to seven in August and said it will require software that flags abnormal search activity by year-end, according to a company statement reported by the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Crosswalk safety

The Sept. 16 agenda also includes crosswalk safety. That discussion dates to at least May 2024, when Councilmember Alicia Camper recommended a crosswalk assessment and regular reviews every five years, noting public questions about crosswalks and plans for a new crosswalk at a Miami Avenue roundabout, according to council records.

By June 2024, the committee had reviewed existing crosswalks with Police Chief David Schaefer and planned speed studies. No public update on those studies appears in available records.

How to attend

The meeting is at the Madeira Municipal Building, 7141 Miami Ave. Residents with questions can contact City Manager Mike Norton-Smith at [email protected] or 513-561-7228.