FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): The Fort Wayne City Council has once again postponed its highly anticipated vote on whether to renew the city’s contract with Flock Safety, but local leaders say the delay is a deliberate move to secure critical privacy safeguards.

The decision to table the $120,250.00 contract renewal was led by Republican Councilman Russ Jehl, who has argued that the city must establish legally binding guidelines on how mass surveillance data is collected, stored, and shared before any taxpayer funds are approved.

Initially, the contract faced a potential 5-4 defeat in council chambers earlier this year. Rather than allowing the program to die—which would immediately strip the Fort Wayne Police Department of an active investigative tool—Jehl stepped in to table the bill. By pushing the final vote back, he aims to negotiate a compromise that balances modern law enforcement capabilities with the constitutional rights of Fort Wayne residents.

Under the current setup, Fort Wayne police utilize 36 Flock Safety cameras across the city to log vehicle movements and license plates. While law enforcement officials and prosecutors have repeatedly championed the system as a crucial tool for tracking violent offenders and recovering stolen property, privacy advocates and state leaders, including Lieutenant Governor Micah Beckwith, have expressed deep concern over the lack of permanent restrictions on the database.

Jehl’s push for the delay focuses heavily on establishing written policies that would limit how long the data of law-abiding citizens is retained, create audit trails to prevent unauthorized searches by personnel, and restrict the sharing of local vehicle data with out-of-state and federal agencies without judicial oversight.

While the council continues to hammer out the specifics of these proposed guidelines, the existing camera system will remain active on temporary terms. City leaders have not yet announced the official date for the rescheduled vote.