As Oak Bluffs explores a new security camera policy, calls were made to protect residents’ data.
At the Oak Bluffs Select Board meeting on Tuesday, Sean DeBettencourt, a board member, proposed a series of protective measures, saying a draft policy should keep data local, restrict access to town officials and Oak Bluffs Police when needed, and avoid any artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
The camera system was first discussed at an Oak Bluffs Select Board meeting on July 28 in response to the series of serious incidents that recently occurred in Oak Bluffs, including a fight outside the Ritz Café that resulted in one individual being paralyzed from the waist down.
Oak Bluffs Police Chief Jonathan Searle said in an interview with The Times last week that if they did eventually plan to install cameras, they should be “town-driven” and accessible only to authorized town employees.
After proposals in late July, DeBettencourt suggested adjustments to the initial draft of the policy. He said the footage should not be shared with any entity other than the Oak Bluffs Police Department, for emergency use only.
DeBettencourt also said that he wants the public to know the cameras are not going to be a FLOCK system, currently a controversial topic in both New Bedford and Nantucket, and will not include AI capabilities.
“The goal of this is, at least my vision would be, to ensure the public is safe and that officers of the Oak Bluffs Police Department are able to look at events as they occur to ensure the accuracy of the information,” DeBettencourt said in the meeting. He described the cameras as simply another data point, so the local department doesn’t solely depend on residents sharing phone videos or eyewitness testimony.
DeBettencourt also said the town doesn’t want to erode any expectation of privacy in public spaces, and the cameras should not create a large database to track individuals.
“I think it’s important for us in 2026 to have that ability without giving up any expected privacy that you would have in public,” DeBettencourt said. “In public, you don’t really have an expectation of privacy, but simultaneously, you want to make sure that we are not creating an enormous database designed to track people down. The goal is public safety.”
WoW! So this is where we are headed. The island that won’t allow a street light is now looking at public security cameras. And why? Because they can’t control the expanse of people that comes with unfettered expansion of money making opportunities for the off island investors and development giants which lead to these kinds of problems. “Oak Bluffs, the entertainment capital of the island.” Whose idea was that!? And who pays for this? But of course. Everybody, whether you are benefiting from the growth or not. “Growth never pays for itself.”
“Oak Bluffs, has always been the entertainment capital of the island.”
Growth never pays for itself.” Does economic contraction pay for itself?
I’m not entirely sure why this is an issue but private citizens and business owners can record the street and do whatever they like with it, including sharing it with the police, or ICE, or the internet. I know of at least two businesses on island, that I will not name for their privacy, that have facial, clothing, and license plate recognition, like flock, on their cameras, that can even tie to transaction data, but that is not an issue. This stuff is consumer grade now, people have it on their homes and stores with zero accountability for what is done with it, I’m not advocating for government surveillance but come on, this isn’t anything new, at least theres rules for it