DAYTON — Flock cameras draw both praise and harsh criticism.
Supporters say they solve crimes and help keep communities safe, but others want them gone for good, calling them overreaching, unregulated, and an invasion of privacy.
Across the Miami Valley, there are Flock cameras everywhere. There is almost a dozen in Miamisburg, and almost three dozen in Harrison Township.
Meanwhile, there are a dozen Flock cameras in Vandalia.
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Most of this year, Flock and its technology have faced harsh criticism. Everything from some law enforcement officers using technology for personal use to departments, including Dayton Police, breaking their own rules and sharing their information with unapproved outside agencies.
State Rep. Phil Plummer, who is also former sheriff of Montgomery County, said, “That’s the problem I have.” He’s been critical of automated license plate readers.
“I don’t think a private company should know I drive down this street 20 times a day,” Plummer said.
He also worries that these cameras infringe on his and other people’s civil liberties.
“Innocent people are getting stopped because of bad technology, no oversight and no regulations,” Plummer said.
News Center 7 viewer Laura Thomas said, “It’s an invasion of privacy.” However, Miamisburg’s police chief, Michael Brem, disagrees.
“There is a narrative that is pushed out there that is safe, and that’s what scares me the most. That’s why I’m on camera now is to make sure that the public knows that the things that they’re hearing, some of the things that they are hearing about it tracking people, are false. It just isn’t true,” Brem said.
Brem and Flock said the technology captures a moment in time, such as the vehicle’s plate and the vehicle’s color; that’s it.
“They’re already doing facial recognition,” Plummer said.
Flock responded with the following message during an interview with WHIO-TV’s sister station in Charlotte: “It is not recording people’s faces. It is not doing facial recognition,” Jalen Johnson said.
In early November, Miamisburg’s Police Department went live with its online Flock system portal. It shows everything from where the cameras are to the number of times its cameras took pictures of cars connected to crimes, stolen cars, and missing people.
News Center 7 viewer Michelle Stepp said, “They can be very useful. Unfortunately, they have been used by some for the wrong reasons.”
The Institute for Justice website identified more than 100 cases where law enforcement misused technology.
“And people have every right to be concerned and to raise those questions,” Johnson said. “We also must be very clear that misuse of any kind is horrible. It should never happen, and it should be minimized.”
Georgeann Godsey, Harrison Township Trustee, said, “I think that it’s always good for people to question it. We want to know what it is and how it works.”
Godsey did her own research and eventually supported the technology. Never did she think she would wind up relying on it personally.
“It was very frightening,” she said.
She was driving south of State Route 741 with her sister following in a different vehicle. “Somewhere between the Dayton Mall and Austin Landing, I realized that she was no longer following me,” Godsey said.
Her sister struggled with Dementia. Not knowing what to do, Godsey called the sheriff’s office.
“Within 15 minutes I got a call back and said they had sighted the car in Moraine,” she said.
Plummer made it clear that he is not anti-law enforcement or anti-technology. He just thinks it needs state and federal oversight.
“But our liberties continue to shrink with it, right? So, have a third-party vendor that can validate the systems the best it can be, and I can live with it,” Plummer said.
And the message from law enforcement? “So, they understand that we’re using it in such a way that we are trying to keep them safe. No one wants to live in a place that’s not safe. This technology keeps our community safe,” Brem said.
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