Narragansett council cancels Flock Safety license plate camera contract, trims pickleball plan to four courts

The Narragansett Town Council voted Monday to cancel the town's contract with Flock Safety, ending the police department's use of automated license plate reading cameras effective immediately. The motion, approved by voice vote, came after roughly an hour of discussion in which the police chief urged the council not to rush, and a majority of residents who spoke asked the council to end the program.

The council also scaled back a pickleball court project at 170 Clark Road from six courts to four, appointed a new assistant town solicitor, and heard extended public criticism over how it handled a workplace complaint against its former assistant solicitor.

Flock Safety cameras cancelled

Town Council President Alexander Menzies and Town Council Member Jason Colonies co-sponsored the item. Menzies said residents had raised privacy concerns for months, and that the neighboring South Kingstown council had voted unanimously to remove its cameras at its most recent meeting.

The police chief told the council the department has supported the program since it began and asked for a delay, saying Flock Safety had requested at least two weeks' notice to send a representative to speak. According to the chief, the system reads license plates only, does not use facial recognition, does not record video, and does not capture drivers or passengers. He said the cameras have helped locate missing children and endangered adults, and have led to recovery of stolen vehicles and identification of suspects in shootings, robberies and carjackings.

The chief described one April burglary investigation on a Narragansett road in which detectives, working from a private security camera image of a white sedan, searched the Flock system for white sedans in that area between 2 and 3 a.m., obtained a plate, tracked the registered owner to another Rhode Island town, and obtained a confession.

Cost and data details reported to the council: $12,600 for the first year and $12,000 for each additional year, paid entirely from forfeiture funds rather than tax dollars. The town started with four cameras and now has three, after one was stolen. Data is retained for 30 days and then deleted, the chief said, and the department has not shared data on a regional "hot list" since the system went live in January 2025.

The Town Manager, Jim Tierney, told the council the contract was approved as an agenda item on September 4, 2024, with an automatic renewal that did not require a return to the council. He said he supports the program. Menzies said the agenda materials he reviewed indicated a one-year term, and that he was surprised a two-year renewal running to September 2027 had not been brought back to the council.

A former council member who voted for the original program said the 2024 authorization was for a one-year pilot with a guarantee that continuation would return to the council for approval, and that "never happened." A policy associate from a statewide civil liberties organization, who identified herself as not being a Narragansett resident, urged cancellation and said state legislation that would have limited data retention to 21 days and required municipal approval died this session.

Several residents spoke against the cameras, arguing the system captures a broader vehicle profile than a plate alone and feeds a nationwide network run by a private company. At least one resident urged the council to keep the program another year, and another suggested putting the question on the November ballot.

Colonies moved to cancel the subscription effective immediately. Town Solicitor Tom Callahan said the office was still checking the contract terms for a cancellation penalty. Menzies said the council had enough information and that the town would face whatever penalty applies. The motion was approved by voice vote.

Pickleball courts cut to four

The council took up a design-and-build plan for the Clark Road pickleball courts, with options to renovate the existing four courts or expand to six. After debate, the council amended the motion to cover only the four existing courts, then approved the amended plan. Both votes drew one recorded nay.

More than a dozen residents spoke. Players described full courts, waiting lines and a community built around the site, and said the surfaces have deep cracks that are becoming a safety hazard. One player said an app used to organize play lists 629 people at those courts.

Neighbors described continuous pickleball noise and disputed the town's ability to absorb more players. An attorney appearing for a Clark Road resident told the council the design as posted also includes an approximately 1,200-square-foot spectator area, and said an expert report submitted to the council last week found paddle strikes fall within a frequency range that the town's noise ordinance treats differently. He argued the amended four-court motion still needs redesign work because the posted plan shifts court locations.

Tierney told the council that any construction at the site — expansion or not — triggers a stormwater management requirement, and that renovating the existing courts means full reconstruction, not patching. The council reached a consensus that noise mitigation should be part of the design, and Menzies asked that the adjacent basketball court remain available for basketball.

The council then approved, by voice vote, $28,180 in design and permitting services from BETA Group, Inc. for the stormwater management plan tied to the court work.

Assistant solicitor appointed; Craven investigation timeline released

The council voted by voice vote to appoint a new assistant town solicitor, and declined to take public comment on the item, with Menzies saying the appointment comes directly from the council. Several residents used the open forum instead to press for answers about the resignation of Robert Craven, the former assistant town solicitor.

Callahan laid out a timeline. A town employee filed a complaint with Tierney on March 18 regarding an interaction at the close of the March 17 Planning Board meeting. Tierney opened an investigation and assigned the town's labor attorney. The council was informed of the allegations and the pending investigation at its April 6 meeting. Interviews ran through April, May and part of June. The investigator reported the work complete on about June 18, and a standalone executive session was held June 23, lasting roughly two and a half hours. One of five council members could not attend, so the session was reconvened later.

Callahan said the council received Craven's resignation letter on July 20 and accepted it that evening in executive session, without conditions, and that a letter accepting the resignation was sent July 23. He said Craven was not involved in solicitor's office work during the investigation, and that, as far as he knows, no one was banned from Town Hall during that period. The resignation letter and the acceptance letter are public records, he said; the investigative report is not, for privacy reasons under the state public records law.

Residents were unsatisfied. One asked whether the town secured a release from future litigation, whether any consideration was given in exchange for the resignation, and whether an apology was required. Another told the council the situation "has been nicely swept under the rug" and asked why Craven was not fired outright. A third questioned how the council could appoint a new assistant solicitor without advertising or interviewing; Callahan said the appointee had been interviewed by this council after it posted a request for proposals following the election, and had been covering Planning Board and community development matters on an interim basis.

Other business

• Resident parking permits: A check-in on the year-round resident parking permit that took effect June 1 reported 71 completed applications and 135 stickers issued, with no issues reported by police. A resident argued the homestead exemption requirement leaves out full-time residents who hold their homes in trust; the council was told the ordinance also allows a year-round notarized lease with supporting paperwork. Menzies asked for another review at the end of summer.
• Zoning hearing scheduled: The council voted to set a public hearing on proposed changes to the High Water Table Limitations Overlay District for September 21, at the regular meeting.
• Approved by voice vote: a $28,382 annual radio system maintenance contract for fiscal year 2026-2027; $52,882.36 in equipment for two new police vehicles; $147,127.40 in playground structures for Phase 2 of a park playground project; $14,500 in skate park concept design services; $70,317 in upfit services for a Highway Division replacement truck; pavement preservation services at quoted unit prices; a $10,889.86 change order for the Town Hall front entrance project; two sewer policy waivers for proposed subdivisions; a victualler license for a pizza company; and a reappointment to the Towers Committee.
• Split vote: The annual Office 365 renewal, listed at $73,248, passed with one nay.
• Middlebridge Road caretaker lease: The council approved extending the caretaker's residence lease from a five-year to a 15-year term, conditioned on the solicitor cleaning up the language. A resident objected that the lease's stated fair market rental value of $1,729 a month is unrealistic, that it refers to rent receipts although no rent is charged, and that it is silent on fire and wind damage and on interior maintenance. The tenants told the council they sought a longer term to justify installing central air conditioning at their own expense.
• Sewer capacity questioned: Two residents objected to the sewer waivers, arguing the town exceeds its allocated treatment capacity each year and rents capacity to cover the gap. One council member said neither subdivision will produce affordable housing. Both waivers passed.

What's next

The public hearing on the High Water Table Limitations Overlay District changes is set for September 21. The council asked for another review of the resident parking permit program at the end of summer. Design work on the four Clark Road courts and the associated stormwater plan proceeds, with the council's stated expectation that noise mitigation be included. The meeting adjourned at 11:28 p.m.