Flock Cameras Face Backlash Even as New Study Shows Anti-Theft Benefits– legalinsurrection.com

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Flock Cameras Face Backlash Even as New Study Shows Anti-Theft Benefits– legalinsurrection.com
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Flock cameras are automated license-plate reader (ALPR) systems made by Flock Safety that use cameras and software to capture vehicle images, read plate numbers, and alert participating law-enforcement agencies to vehicles linked to investigations or watch lists.

Their use has expanded rapidly in cities, neighborhoods, and businesses as a tool for locating stolen cars, missing people, and suspects. Data is shared through large regional networks that enable agencies to exchange information.

Flock cameras have now joined data centers as the focus of concern and complaint. Critics argue that the systems enable warrantless tracking of ordinary drivers, can be misused or accessed without adequate oversight, and may disproportionately target “marginalized communities.”

One of the biggest concerns regarding ALPRs is how they both create and reinforce racially biased policing. My colleagues, Drs. Jonny Finn and Andrew Baird, and I recently completed a landmark geospatial analysis titled “Surveillance Inequality: Race, Poverty, and the Geography of ALPR Deployment.”

Our study of 614 cameras in the Hampton Roads area found that race and class are the primary predictors of where these cameras are placed. (It is worth noting that Hampton Roads officials did not release the locations of these ALPRs willingly; they were forced to do so by a federal judge.) The ALPRs completely encircle Norfolk State University, the region’s only public HBCU, for instance.

These devices have also become the target of vandalism.

The Dallas Police Department says there has been an increase in Flock cameras being destroyed.

“We lose that visibility and that investigative value from those cameras that are vandalized,” said Sgt. Adam Reinhart.

At least 25 Flock cameras have been vandalized so far, Reinhart says.

“It’s become popular to cut down Flock cameras. And so we’re just seeing that trend here in Dallas. Along with, you know, throughout the country,” he explained.