As the City of Monmouth’s contract for the placement of four Flock cameras expires in December, the technology has sparked debate over the collection and use of the data, according to Operations Director Ken Helms:
“What the company does is they install automatic license plate readers in the right of ways, generally either in towns or on highways, very rarely on private property. Every time somebody drives by them, it is essentially taking a snapshot of their plate, running it through a machine learning interface, and then it spits back to whatever agency sponsored Flock to come in. It could be a suspended license plate, a revoked license plate, maybe there is an Amber Alert, or a stolen car. You can see where this can have divided opinions on it,” states Helms.
“Over the last few months, at the police department we have heard input from the citizens. This is something that definitely warrants public input on it and discussion with City Council. We will have one meeting where we do a full open discussion and then at the next City Council meeting, they take action. That would be a vote as to whether to renew the contract with Flock and for how many years, or whether to let it discontinue,” Helms adds.
Helms anticipates discussions to begin on the Flock cameras during the November City Council meetings. For any questions or to provide a statement on the matter, contact City Hall at 309-734-2141.
