Weston is a small, historic town located about 15 minutes north of Kansas City International Airport. Known for its bevy of distilleries, breweries, wineries and other tourist attractions, the small town of about 1,900 people attracts visitors from all over our six-county Missouri region here and other neighboring states.
When local residents Katie Currid and Hilary Buford learned that Flock Safety planned to install four automated license plate reader cameras in this idyllic rural suburb in Platte County, the pair organized to have the cameras known as ALPRs — automated license plate recognition cameras — shut down and removed. In April, in a truly stunning development that illustrates the power regular everyday folks hold when it comes to local matters, the four-person Weston Board of Aldermen reversed its own decision and voted to terminate its contract with Flock Safety thanks to the advocacy work of Currid and Buford.
What started last winter as a monthslong campaign to educate public officials and residents about the dangers of mass surveillance in Weston ended with a celebratory toast at a local pub this spring, Currid and Buford told me in recent phone interviews…