Park Ridge's $24,000 contract with Flock Safety for eight license plate reader cameras will stand after the City Council deadlocked on a motion to undo the deal.

Ald. John Moran (1st Ward) brought the reconsideration motion, seeking to wipe clean the narrow vote that approved the one-year contract extension on July 20. Under council rules, a motion to reconsider needs a second and a simple majority to pass. If successful, the original vote would have been nullified and the council would have re-voted at its next meeting.

The deadlock killed the motion, the Journal & Topics reported Monday, Aug. 10.

The original contract vote passed with Mayor Marty Maloney casting the deciding vote amid a privacy debate that had already spilled into the streets. Park Ridge police reports document at least three vandalism incidents targeting Flock cameras in a single week in June: spray paint at Cumberland Avenue and Glenlake Avenue on June 12, a baseball bat attack at the same intersection on June 15 and more spray paint at Touhy Avenue and Wisner Street on June 17. Vandals destroyed roughly half of the city's plate readers before the contract came up for renewal.

The cameras have drawn scrutiny beyond Park Ridge. Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias found in 2025 that Flock permitted U.S. Customs and Border Protection to access Illinois plate reader data in violation of state law, which bars use of the data for immigration enforcement. Giannoulias ordered the company to shut off CBP's access. Nationally, at least 80 communities across 28 states have scaled back their relationships with Flock, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The contract runs for one year and comes up for renewal in summer 2027. Residents can check parkridge.us for the next council meeting agenda and public comment instructions.