Worthington City Council unanimously passed Resolution 06-2026 on Monday, January 12, formally affirming the city's commitment to maintaining a welcoming environment for all people. The discussion included significant clarifications from Police Chief Stephen Mylett regarding the city's Flock license plate reading cameras and their separation from federal immigration enforcement.
Resolution Development and Purpose
The resolution was developed over the past two weeks with input from Council Members Glenn Pratt, Maria Ramirez, and Joy Dong, alongside city staff including City Manager Robyn Stewart, City Prosecutor Karen Sheffer, and Police Chief Mylett.
Council Member Pratt introduced the resolution, explaining its purpose in making existing city policies more widely known. "I appreciate everyone who was involved in the drafting of the resolution and I want to acknowledge and thank Chief Mylett and the Worthington Police Force for its policy concerning immigration enforcement, helping to build trust with our community, not getting involved in immigration enforcement, and not investigating individuals based solely on their immigration status," Pratt said.
Clarification on Flock Camera Technology and Federal Access
A central part of the discussion addressed resident concerns about the city's Flock license plate reading cameras. Council Member Joy Dong raised questions she had received from "numerous Worthington residents" about whether federal immigration agencies have access to the camera system.
Chief Mylett provided explicit clarification on federal access to the system. "I can't give you the list of all the agencies, local agencies, that have access to our system as we have access to theirs, but I could tell you that ICE does not have access, nor do any of the other federal organizations," Mylett said.
City Manager Stewart clarified the technical nature of the cameras. "It's not really a video stream that the Flock cameras capture. There are a series of still images of license plates. So just to understand, it's not like an active live video stream that is occurring, it's still images of license plates," Stewart said.
Chief Mylett explained how the system operates: "It is a system that if a license plate is entered by an agency connected to a specific incident, whether it's a missing person or a wanted person, we will get an alert where that vehicle is and we're able to respond to that area and try to locate the individual." he said.
The chief also emphasized the department's overall stance on immigration enforcement. "I want the Worthington community and the public to understand this clearly, that the Worthington Police Department does not enforce immigration law. We don't and we won't. And if anybody has questions or concerns, obviously they can contact me directly and I'll be more than happy to speak with them," Mylett stated.
During follow-up discussion, a council member asked about camera placement, and Chief Mylett confirmed the cameras are located in commercial areas rather than residential neighborhoods.
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Distribution and Accessibility Plans
Following the voice vote approving the resolution, Council discussed how to effectively communicate it to residents and ensure accessibility for all community members.
City Manager Stewart outlined the distribution approach: "Typically where this would reside, obviously in our official record books with our other resolutions, but typically with something like this, it would reside on our website. We could create a webpage that it is available on and then any other communications would typically then link back to where it resides on our website," she said. Stewart indicated the city would share the resolution through social media and the city's e-newsletter and would create a shorter summary statement highlighting key themes from the full resolution for easier accessibility.
Council members expressed interest in making the resolution available in multiple languages. Stewart noted that Communications Director Anne Brown was already reaching out to counterparts in other communities to identify reliable translation services, "because obviously we would want to have an accurate translation". She mentioned Spanish and Somali as important languages to include, given significant populations in central Ohio.
Council also discussed providing resources to residents who may have questions or concerns. Stewart mentioned that organizations like Community Refugee and Immigration Services (CRIS) have extensive resources available on their website that the city could link to. Council members agreed that resource lists directing people to organizations like CRIS could be attached to social media posts about the resolution.
Next Steps for Residents
The resolution is now part of the city's official record. City staff have developed a webpage where the full resolution and related resources are available to the public.